good morning. path of destruction. a powerful tornado rips through western pennsylvania, damaging at least 30 homes and two schools. and out west, another dangerous twister, as residents brace for even more violent storms today. no answer. two passenger jets forced to land at one of the nation's busiest airports without any response from the tower. and this morning, officials believe the lone controller on duty may have been asleep. and remembering an icon. tributes pour in for hollywood goddess elizabeth taylor. this morning we'll hear from other entertainment legends and a woman who may have known her

best. her long-time publicist shares her fondest memories in an exclusive live interview today, thursday, march 24th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is "today," with matt lauer, and meredith vieira. live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> and good morning, welcome to "today" on a thursday morning, i'm matt lauer. >> and i'm ann curry in for meredith. good morning. first, that control tower story is crazy. and let's talk about this weather. here in new york, we had everything. rain, hail, snow, even thundersnow. but, man, nothing like the storms in pennsylvania. >> looks at that. there's some video of a twister. this is one that did the most damage. it was in greensburg, just outside of pittsburgh. as you can see, caught on tape. as well as a major hail storm there. we're going to get the latest in a live report. al will give us the forecast in a couple of minutes. in the meantime, we'll get our first look inside the nuclear power plant in japan. you can see the dangerous and dark conditions those heroic

workers are battling as they try to restore power to the reactors. and overnight two of those workers had to be rushed to the hospital after being exposed to radioactive elements. we're going to get details in a live report coming up this morning. >> here's the question that i think will be of interest to a lot of parents out there. how far should a school go to protect one student with a severe peanut allergy? parents are in an uproar over the strict new rules put in place in an elementary school in florida. they claim what's being done there to keep one child safe is hurting other kids' education. we're going to hear from both sides in that story. but we begin this morning with severe weather on both coasts. the weather channel is in greensburg, pennsylvania. allison, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. as is so often the case when eyewitnesses describe a tornado event, this morning when i spoke to residents on this street, one man said it sounded like a freight train had come right down the street as he and his wife went to their basement for

cover. just the fence in his yard was ripped up, so when he came just a few houses down and looked here at the damage, trees uprooted, power lines twisted, and roofs and portions of the whole houses just ripped away, he was dismayed at what he saw. these are just a few of at least 30 homes that were damaged by a funnel cloud that skipped across westmoreland county and today the national weather service will be on-site to determine how this storm should be rated and whether or not that funnel cloud actually touched down. but for the people who live here, they say there's no doubt about it, matt. >> all right, in pennsylvania for us this morning, allison, thank you very much. >> pretty dramatic images. bhast in store today? al roker is up with more on these storms and a first look at the forecast. hey, al, good morning. >> thanks very much. this is a look back at where you can see these storms now moving through sparta, tennessee, greensburg, pennsylvania. and very powerful storms last

night moving through, triggering off also some problems here in the northeast with snow. now, as we move out west, where they had a tornado reported in northern california, fourth tim got flood watches, surf advisories, winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories for there. as you can see, we've got another storm system coming on shore. there's another one back behind it. you can see that swirl coming in later on this week. but what we're expecting for today, rainfall amounts again going to be very heavy. we're talking about 1 to 3 inches of rain from monterey up to eureka and snowfall amounts up to 2 feet in the sierra and the cascades. so that's going to be a big problem today, and the snow and the rain is going to continue for at least the next 48 hours. matt? >> all right, al, thank you very much. now to an alarming situation at reagan national airport. two passenger jets forced to land on their own, because the pilots couldn't reach anyone in the control tower. nbc's pete williams is at the airport. pete, good morning. >> reporter: matt, good morning to you. it happened as two planes were preparing to land just a few minutes apart, asking for their final directions from the air

traffic control tower here at reagan national airport. but they never got an answer, and this morning, the government believes the only controller on duty may have fallen asleep. wednesday morning, just after midnight, an american airlines 737 coming from miami with 97 people on board contacts the control tower. but instead of getting the usual instructions, the pilot gets no answer at all. >> washington tower. >> reporter: so the pilot circles the airport, seeking guidance from a nearby traffic operations facility in virginia and is told they couldn't get a response either, even on the phone. [ inaudible ] >> we called on the land line, and commercial line and no answer. >> reporter: a man on board the flight says the pilot keeps passengers informed. >> the pilot gets over the loud speaker and says, sorry, folks, we can't land right now, i can't get in touch with the air traffic control tower. we're going to keep circling

until i get a response. >> reporter: the plane lands safely following procedures for unmanned airports, making frequent radio calls to notify planes in the area of its position. around that same time, a united airlines plane, 68 people on board, heading in from chicago, is notified by the operations center of the tower problem. >> just so you're aware, one aircraft going into dca, the tower is apparently unmanned. >> reporter: it landed safely, too, and the tower controller was back on the radio about five minutes later. but a former airline pilot calls it a serious lapse. >> of all the airports on the planet, this is the worst one for that to happen to. let's face it. that airport sits within a baseball throw of the pentagon, of the white house, of the capitol building. this is not a very good situation. >> reporter: officials say this controller has an unblemished record, and they're still trying

to make sure exactly what happened, whether he fell asleep or had a medical emergency or something else. but now the transportation secretary, ray la hood, has ordered the faa to make sure two controllers are on duty on the late shift at this tower and to are review staffing at other towers nationwide. >> pete, thank you very much. mike pangia is a commercial licensed pilot. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> i'm almost at a loss. how could this happen? and by the way, why aren't there two controllers in a control tower of a major airport at midnight? >> well, this surprises me. i operated an airplane in and out of this area, not at national airport, but at airports close by. and it's very critically protected air space, because it's within a stone's throw of the capitol and so forth. i find it very, very unusual. there is hardly any traffic at those hours. so the job becomes very, very tedious. not because of the amount of traffic, but because of the lack

of traffic. and it engenders complacency and so you need two people in that tower at an airport like this airport. >> right. >> and especially -- we have been having weather here lately, and so it's going to limit abilities of the pilots to see the traffic. you need that traffic controller. >> is there no one else at an airport like national who monitors these radio transmissions, not in the tower, and says, wait a second, there's no response, or is there no camera in the control tower that shows what's happening in that room so someone else could react to it? >> no. you need two controllers up there. what these pilots did was contact approach control. they went back to the radar control, which is the control that they were talking to. they were switched over from what they call approach control, over to what we call local control, the actual tower. >> right. >> and so they -- so when you can't get another controller, you go back to the last person.

and that's what they did. so the last controller would be able to monitor on radar. but the approach controller can't really tell what's on the runway, and things like that. we need that local controller. >> real, real quickly, mike. did the pilots do the right thing here by landing without guidance? should they have circled longer to wait to see if they could have reached somebody? >> well, that's a judgment call. and all airplanes in this area, particularly at that time, have been with approach control, or should have been with approach control. so there's very, very little traffic in the area. so really, you know, where can these planes go? i think the pilots did the right call. you would have to be in the cockpit in order to make that determination. but i don't fault the pilots for this. i think they did the right thing. >> mike, thanks for your input on this. i appreciate it very much. >> you're welcome, matt. nine minutes after the hour. here's ann. >> matt, thanks. a new round of air strikes in libya overnight, and one very

close call for nbc's richard engel while he came under fire by rebels. he joins us on the phone from just outside of ajdabiya. richard, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. we are back on the rebels' front line now. we have been hearing artillery fire this morning from gadhafi's troops a few miles away. the rebels here have the numbers, they have the will to fight. but they don't have the discipline or the equipment to take on gadhafi's troops while they're still dug in. american and european air strikes stopped a massacre in benghazi, and destroyed many of gadhafi's heavy weapons. but on the front lines, the rebels are mostly on their own. here, there are no trenches or sandbags, just men, poorly armed, who want to fight. the rebel front line is about five miles outside the town of ajdabiya. smoke can be seen rising from ajdabiya in the distance. gadhafi still has tanks and

artillery in the town. the rebels watch with binoculars, but can't advance. outgunned, rebels say they're killed whenever they approach gadhafi's forces. we have light weapons, he has tanks, complain one man. another rebel showed me, he isn't actually armed at all. it's a toy gun. this is amazing. he just handed me his gun. i didn't realize until he put it in my hands, it's made of plastic. it's a toy. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: three explosions, 50 yards away. so we were doing the interviews, incoming rounds just landed in this area. the rebels are now starting to flee. rebels cheer they survived this assault by gadhafi's army. there have been several artillery rounds that have landed right in this area. we're using this piece of concrete to take a little cover, and to see if the artillery

rounds stop long enough for us to get out of the area. shockingly, the rebel we interviewed leaves cover to retrieve his plastic gun. but abandons it as we hear another explosion. we leave a few minutes later, and find rebels regrouping at a safer distance. but without leadership or the close air support, they desperately want from the west, the rebels are struggling. this morning, ann, we have been hearing western fighter jets high in the sky above this area. it is certainly a welcome presence for the rebels here on the front line. ann? >> richard engel this morning, stay safe, and thanks. rachel maddow is the most of "the rachel maddow show." good morning to you. >> good to see you. >> it's alarming to see how poorly alarmed they are, and also how disorganized these rebels are. given that, and a lot of other reasons, what are the chances the u.s. can get further deeply involved? >> the question here is whether or not, honestly, this military

intervention by the west is going to make enough room in this military fight that gadhafi goes. it is unclear at this point. richard's reporting as clear as anything points out that the military capacity of the rebels doesn't seem to guarantee that. now, the u.n. mission is not to get rid of gadhafi. is not to defeat him, it's to stop him from massacring civilians. that is the grounds on which this test will be judged. but it's very hard to imagine the u.s. being in this for much longer, and getting out of a lead role. the u.s. military is so dominant compared to other mill tears in the rest of the world. it's hard for us to be a participant in anything we are not running. >> you seem so clear about what the mission is, but in fact, speaker boehner doesn't seem as clear. in fact, he wrote a letter to the president saying, we don't know how long the no-fly zone will be in force, we don't know the cost of the mission, we don't know the benchmark for success. do you agree with the speaker? is that these are questions the president must answer? >> the president has said it's u.s. policy that gadhafi should go. it is not the goal of the no-fly zone and the u.n. military

mission to force gadhafi out. those are separate things. the way the u.s. is pursuing its controls includes things like sanctions and an arms embargo which don't have much to do with what is happening with these fighter jets over libya right now. what is interesting about speaker boehner's letter is for him to raise the issue of cost. it's a new world to see the beltway press and speaker boehner talking about the cost of tomahawk missiles compared to what that could buy us in our budget. i'm a liberal, and it has been a liberal dream for americans to consider defense costs alongside the other things we could spend money on. the first time in my lifetime it's happened in a mainstream way. >> meantime, the president is also getting criticism from the left as well as the right. we have representative anthony weaner saying there is no doubt in my mind that we in congress are not potted plants. we should have been asked for the okay to go into what essentially is an engagement of war. did the president make a mistake in not getting congressional approval? >> i think the president has

been so emphatic about how limited this and how it's going to be days and not weeks that we're not going to be in the lead he sees that as a key justification. he notified congress, but he did not ask them. if it goes on for much longer, i think even the administration will acknowledge they have to get a congressional vote and then you will see the politics on this pop even further. >> as usual, the length of engagement will determine a lot of public opinion. rachel maddow, thank you so much. we want to mention you can catch the "rachel maddow show" on msnbc. nalt morales at the news desk. good morning. >> good morning. in tokyo, residents are on edge this morning over reports of radiation in the water supply. nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazell is in tokyo with the latest. good morning, robert. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. the officials are saying that the water here in tokyo is, again, safe enough for infants to drink. but few people are reassured. and at the reactor site, the

effort continues, but an incident today shows just how dangerous it is. these newly released pictures show the workers, now heroes, inside the stricken plant. today three workers were exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation, two hospitalized. the meanwhile, tokyo residents continue to be worried, even as radiation levels in the water system drop, and the advisory of giving tap water to infants is lifted. still residents are stocking up on bottled water. erika's son is just 2 weeks old, and now this new mother is concerned. >> i don't know what's going to happen ten years, twenty years later. to me and my baby. so i'm really worried. >> reporter: officials advise against hoarding water as shelves are left empty. in tokyo today, the government started distributing 240,000 bottles of water to households with infants and said it was considering a plan to import bottled water from overseas. at the troubled fukushima plant,

workers continue their struggle to regain control. officials said they will soon be bringing in fresh water from a distant dam to cool the reactors. fears have been growing that salt from all of the sea water that's been pumped in could clog the crucial cooling systems. and said their effort to keep pressure under control inside the three reactors working at the time of the quake remains a difficult balancing act. north of the reactor, in an emotional visit, u.s. ambassador john ruse spoke to evacuees in a shelter in the hard hit miagi prefecture. >> i have witnessed the best of humanity. the thoughts and prayers of my country, the united states, are with you. >> reporter: with all this anxiety about the reactors, there hasn't been so much attention to those -- the devastated areas to the north. but, of course, the remains are in misery. ann? >> worth reminding. robert bazell in tokyo, thank you so much. tensions in the middle east are escalating again.

israel bombarded targets in the gaza strip in response to the deadly bombing in central jerusalem yesterday. gazans returned fire with mortar and rockets. and in syria, the crackdown on anti-government protesters left 15 people dead. in yemen, the embattled president is imposing emergency laws to give his security forces greater power in their violent crackdown on protests. flight delays at miami international airport are possible today as workers scramble to restore fueling operations after an overnight fire in a fuel storage area. officials say the fire was potentially disastrous. an 18-wheeler dangled over a highway ramp in ft. worth, texas this morning after an accident sent it careening off the road. rescuers managed to reach the driver, who was still in the cab. a car was also pinned under the truck. the cause of the accident is now under investigation. it's unbelievable video there to see that. it's now 18 minutes past the hour. you're up to date with the news.

let's turn it back over to matt, ann and al. >> thanks very much. mr. rocky e lots of weather to talk about. >> we'll show you what's going on for this morning. a lot of rain out west as we have been telling you. lots of wind, maybe isolated tornadoes. we've got some morning showers along the mid atlantic coastal states. beautiful weather in the plains, chilly side, 34 in chili today. 78 in new orleans. and high surf advisories in hawaii. that's what's going on around good morning to you. well, the wind are certainly picking up ahead of a very strong front already spreading rain across the bay area. that rain will intensify as we head through this afternoon. and you can see what else is on the way, lightning strikes coming down just offshore between eureka and ukiah. this core is sliding to the south, so we expect thunderstorms in our area this afternoon as well. temperatures today will only be in the 50s. grab the jacket, umbrella and travel cautiously.

>> al, thank you very much. tributes are pouring in from all around the world for hollywood icon elizabeth taylor. she died on wednesday from congestive heart failure at the age of 79. nbc's miguel almaguer is in hollywood with more. good morning to you. >> reporter: matt, good morning. elizabeth taylor was given a star on the hollywood walk of fame back in 1960. a legacy cemented in history. ♪ i can't lie >> reporter: she was one of hollywood's biggest stars. ♪ >> reporter: remembered wednesday night by another icon, close friend and musician, elton john. >> she was without doubt one of the greatest people i've ever met in my life. she was an incredible woman. and i was privileged to have known her. and god bless you, elizabeth. god knows how we're going to replace you. >> reporter: tributes for taylor were also held in hollywood, where she found her fame.

>> i'll just call him pie. oh, you're a pretty one. >> reporter: a two-time oscar winner for best actress, elizabeth taylor was called the goddess of hollywood's golden age, an original starlet, not just a pin-up, but an international legend. >> just one, and i will not only spit in your eye, but i will punch it black and blue. >> reporter: she starred in more than 50 films and 6 television movies. beauty, grace, charisma, all defining traits. >> i have something to ask you. >> co-star mickey rooney called taylor's passing momentous and a great personal loss. barbra streisand says her death was the end of an era. she was funny, generous, she made her life count. and a colorful life it was. >> going to have a baby. i think that's exciting, too. >> that's an understatement. >> reporter: taylor married and divorced eight times. husband number four was eddie fisher. a love affair that began while he was still married to taylor's

close friend, actress debby reynolds. >> it all happened so long ago, when we were so young. i forgave you years ago. god bless her. she's on to a better place. i'm happy that she's out of her pain. >> reporter: taylor often made more headlines for her personal life than professional ones. the tabloids loved her. >> oh, come on. do i look like i'm dying? >> no. >> do i look like or sound like i have alzheimer's? >> no. >> reporter: over the years, the fascination with elizabeth never waned. >> she was everything. the greatest screen star we ever produced. >> reporter: elizabeth taylor seemed to have it all. joan rivers said she lived a great life, and died wealthy, unforgotten, with her family around her. where do i sign up? it was a great life, one lived like a hollywood script. elizabeth taylor died with her four children by her side.

it's believed she'll be buried in los angeles at the same cemetery where her parents were laid to rest. matt? >> miguel, thank you very much. miguel almaguer in los angeles this morning. we'll have more on elizabeth taylor in our next half hour, including an exclusive live interview with her long-time friend and publicist. but first, this is "today" on nbc. with her long-time publicist. never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles compared to what a cancer patient goes through

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just ahead, should a school accommodate or kick out a girl with a severe peanut allergy? >> the heated debate, after your local nurse. [ woman ] can't anything help these itchy allergy eyes?

[ male announcer ] visine-a is clinically proven to relieve all your worst eye allergy symptoms. it goes right where you need it, relieving allergy eyes in minutes. get visine-a. no other allergy eye drop is more complete. good morning to you. 7:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. he's a live shot of the bay bridge this morning. you are going to see it all this morning with the camera shaking there. christina loren is joining us now with the very latest. good morning to you. if it is coming down outside your house right now, it will get worse before it gets better. the winds are substantially picking up, we are up to 26 miles per hour sustained in oakland. 25 in santa rosa. the winds will increase throughout the morning hours. we have an unstable air mass overhead.

basically wherever you live this morning you are seeing rain. a little bit of the heavier stuff is pushing into novato to intensify heading through the 9:00 a.m. hour. we are expecting a lot of rain over the entire greater bay area. that will continue until noon. then we get a bit of a break, but within the time frame we are also concerned about the formation of some strong thunderstorms, which we are already noticing between eureka and ukiah. pay attention to the weather forecast all day long as we have a slight chance for tornadic rotation again. temperatures in the 50s today. we'll have the extended forecast coming up in a minute. now we'll get you to work on time with mike inouye. you have to leave right now. conditions are getting worse as the morning continues. a couple issues for the bay bridge. we have a minor accident at the toll plaza making things worse here. and a stall is blocking treasure island off to the upper deck slowing things down on the incline. look at the wet conditions here. here's the san mateo bridge to the south. the camera is shaking here because of the gusts of winds are picking up and the peninsula is getting hit hard with the

rain. 101 is slow into the city. flooding is already being reported. be careful out there. this morning a manhunt is underway in san jose after a man was shot to death just a few hours ago. police say a man was shot overnight near a liquor store at the shopping center of bariesa and lundy. the man shot drove himself to the hospital where he later died. police say they do not think the shooting is gang-related but the suspect in the shooting is still on the loose this morning. we'll keep tabs on that. of course, we'll continue to watch weather and traffic as well. another local news update in a half hour. hope to see you then.

7:30 on a thursday morning. 24th of march, 2011. so this is spring. look at that. the hats, the gloves, the scarves, and check out the temperature. only about 30 degrees, 31 degrees outside. a couple of inches of snow in some areas overnight in the new york city area. this is not what we had in mind. but thanks to those people for standing outside. we'll get out there and say hi in a little while. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer alongside ann curry while meredith is taking time off. much more on elizabeth taylor's remarkable life and career, an icon in every sense of the word. just ahead, one of her closest

friends will share intimate memories in an exclusive live interview. and also ahead this morning, on a much different note, it's shaping up to be an exceptionally dangerous year for wildfires, so how long would it take for your home to go up in flames? we'll take you inside a place to test that out and the results are alarming. and a fight in one florida school over a peanut allergy. a first grader there has such a severe allergy that her classmates have to watch their hands regularly throughout the day, and rinse out their mouths. some of their parents say that goes too far. they want that little girl with the peanut allergy removed from school. we'll have details on that story, coming up. but we begin this half hour with a risky decision by actress lindsay lohan to reject a plea deal in her neck last theft case. nbc's kristin welker is in los angeles with details on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, ann. lindsay lohan's attorney tells nbc news she believes her client will be acquitted. legal analysts say it is likely the actress will argue she

thought the store had loaned that necklace to her. now she'll have to prove her case in court. >> lindsay, are you going to take a plea deal? >> reporter: lindsay lohan facing tough questions during a recent trip to new york. now she's answering. according to lohan's attorney, the actress has turned down a plea deal that would have landed her back in jail. she is charged with stealing this $2,500 necklace that she was pictured wearing. next stop, a preliminary hearing, which will determine if the case goes to trial. >> at the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor has to show the charge of grand theft might be true. it's a low standard. >> reporter: legal analysts say this surveillance video could be key. the store sold the rights to the footage, which allegedly shows the actress in the shop on the day the necklace disappeared. there's no audio, but you can see her trying on jewelry, talking to the clerk, and leaving unencumbered. a possible boon to the defense, says one expert. >> you see ms. lohan and the store clerk having very positive

communications, nothing that would indicate there's an argument that ms. lohan stormed out with the necklace. >> reporter: store owners maintain, they are the victims. lohan has pleaded not guilty, and her attorney tells nbc news, though many advise her to follow the safe route by taking the deal, the truth is, ms. lohan is innocent. she has a strong defense, and we are confident. >> there's always, you know, things, you know -- bumps we have in the road. >> reporter: in a recent interview, the actress told "extra" she is focusing on the future. >> i miss being onset. i really do miss it. and i know that, you know, there's going to be a lot of steps. but i'm willing to do what i have to do to get there. because it's my passion. >> well, there's this guy in my class. >> reporter: the actress has been outin and out of jail and rehab for violating her probation on a 2007 dui arrest. recently, she has been making more headlines for her attire at court appearances than for starring roles. >> what she really needs is to

just get a movie, and at this point, it could be a tv movie, it could be anything. >> reporter: now, lohan's next court date is set for april. that judge will also have to determine whether lohan is in violation of her probation, once again, based on these latest charges and that could come with jail time. in addition, a felony grand theft conviction carries a possible prison sentence. ann? >> thank you. let's switch gears and get a check of the weather from al. >> today's weather is brought to you by livingsocial. save 50% on all the best stuff in your town. >> and good morning, everybody. we've got -- are you okay, buddy? what's your name? >> palmer. >> are you cold? where are you from? >> tennessee. >> oh, my gosh. it's a little warmer there. you hang in there. do you want to use my hat for a little bit? there you go. all right. let's check your weather.

this looks much better on he than me. afternoon temperatures, 30s and 40s in the northeast. 20s in the great lakes. you've got to head down to florida, 80s, 90s down there. a lot of wet weather along the pacific coast, mountain snows there. we expect plenty of sunshine in the midwest. morning showers in the mid atlantic coast. lots of wind here with snow showers in the western great lakes. and also into the northeast. that's what's going on around the country. good morning to you. well, the winds are certainly picking up in our neck of the woods. this is going to continue for the next couple of hours ahead of the bulk of the moisture from a very strong storm which is scheduled to arrive right on time at 9:00 a.m. across the greater bay area. right now the wind speeds are anywhere between 10 to 30 miles per hour wherever you head, travel cautiously, especially in high-profile vehicles. the bulk arrives in some spots of the north bay continuing to trend through the south at 9:00

a.m. a lot of rain is coming down, travel cautiously. forget, you can get your weather any time of the day or night. go to the weather channel. >> elizabeth taylor was one of the world's most beautiful and beloved movie stars with a career that spans more than seven decades. her life was not all glitz and glamor. we'll talk to her long-time publicist and friend in a moment. but first peter alexander. >> her career was filled with so many memorable movie moments, but her passing isn't just the loss of one of hollywood's brightest stars, also the end of a 70-year soap opera that americans could not get enough. for a nation obsessed with royalty, elizabeth taylor was hollywood's queen, famous for film as she was for diamonds, drama and divorce. with those stunning looks and violet eyes, taylor was a household name by the tender age of 12. >> all day and every night, i want to be a famous writer.

>> reporter: she earned acclaim for being with top leading men. >> i tried with you, baby. i really tried. >> reporter: but her off-screen dramas would be as memorable as her performances themselves. more than 50 movies, sure, but the starlet also had seven husbands. the first a wealthy hotel heir, the last a construction worker. taylor lost husband number three, mike todd, in a tragic plane crash. but public sympathy waned barely a year later, when taylor ran off with singer eddy fischer, at the time still married to taylor's best friend, debby reynolds. on the set of "cleopatra" she cemented her place as the best known vixen, entering a relationship with burton. the pope denounced taylor was a sexual vagrant. but she and burton would marry,

divorce, and marry again. >> i'm a very committed wife. i should be committed, too, i've been married so many times. >> reporter: throughout the years, the public couldn't get enough of taylor's glamour, the excess, and those jewels, fabulous jewels. she owned the giant pearl worn by bloody queen mary five centuries ago, and diamonds. elizabeth's name will forever be synonymous with those spectacular sparklers, too. >> these have always brought me luck. >> reporter: but luck seemed to elude taylor when it came to her health. she missed months of work on "cleopatra." >> mistake lore was carried from the plane in a wheelchair. >> reporter: an illness that brought speculation about her well-being. among taylor's personal struggles, chronic back pain, weight problems and trips to rehab for addiction to both prescription drugs and alcohol. still, despite countless tabloid

headlines declaring her near death, taylor soldiered on. in her later years, most notably as the first celebrity crusader to raise awareness and money for aids research. most recently, her only public appearances were to help promote those aids charities and to mourn the loss of her beloved friend, michael jackson, whom she wouns proudly described as the least weird man she knew. a classic movie star whose life could easily have inspired its own hollywood epic, elizabeth taylor mesmerized fans to the very end. >> love some of those old news reel clips. thousands express their fond memories of taylor, a lot of them reserving remarks for twitter. carrie fischer, her dad was taylor's fifth husband. fischer wrote, if my father had to divorce taylor for anyone, i'm so grateful it was elizabeth. >> sally marks, elizabeth taylor's long-time publicist and

friend, joins us this morning. good morning to you. and my condolences. >> thank you, matt. good morning, good morning. >> you knew her for a very long time, and my thoughts this morning are also with her family. you were very close with them, her four children, ten grandchildren, four great grandchildren. how are they doing? >> well, i think, as expected, they're very, very sad. you have to understand that elizabeth is a national treasure, a global treasure, and i think their whole lives of family have shared her with the world. and right now this is their time to sort of be private and have her alone. and i have to say, we're all really grateful that the press really has left them alone, and they need that time. it's their mom. >> i know she had spent six weeks in the hospital this last time. and i had heard there were some thoughts that she was improving enough maybe where she should come home before things took a turn for the worse. it's a difficult question to ask, sally, but was she aware of the seriousness of the condition

of her final days? >> i think she was very aware of the seriousness of her condition. she had been in the hospital a long time. she had been hospitalized for about six weeks, and she had been stabilized. she received fantastic care at cedar sigh sinai. and it was managed and stable for a long time. you never know. i think all of us who loved her a lot had seen her get through so many extraordinary illnesses. in my case, you know, i sort of watched her over the past 20, 25 years, and she had been very sick many times. and she always had this extraordinary life force, and she sort of pushed through and came back. and i think we all thought that would be the case again, and definitely fervently hoped that. so it's kind of shattering. and i think everybody around her, her very close friends and her family, are just devastated. >> you know, i was trying to think overnight, sally, about why it was that people around the world seem to identify with her so much. none of us live a life like the

one elizabeth taylor lived. and yet perhaps it was the fragility of her that allowed us to identify with her. she had ups and downs like all of us, turbulence, health issues, addiction. is that, do you think, what made people really recognize her? >> i think that's definitely part of it. but she had these real challenges, and she was very honest about them. she was very authentic. i mean, everybody has talked a lot about her beauty, image, contribution to film. but i think the point is that her success and her appeal was based on something very authentic, very real, and honestly, very substantive. and it's that substance that her appeal was built on, that has allowed her to do so much. for example, to build an incredibly successful, great fragrance business. she was the first celebrity fragrance, and 20 years later, white diamonds is a top, top

seller. and that's what those loyal customers have responded to. her real authentic sort of zest and love for life. and, of course, her hiv work has been very much -- she has been able to do that because of that really sort of loyal following. >> i was wondering if maybe we could finish here, sally, by trying to -- people probably try to imagine what must have it been like to live in the shoes of elizabeth taylor? i know the two of you were in florence, italy back in 1991. just tell briefly what happened when she was recognized by a crowd of people. >> well, we had had come out of the aids conference, and she had made this extraordinary speech, and we were all very moved. it was very serious. and she said, let's go shopping a little bit. because she obviously loved to shop. and we all trooped along after her to the beautiful little cute jewelry stores. and suddenly we started to feel this vibration, and there were suddenly out of almost nowhere, thousands of people outside, and

the bridge literally started to vibrate and shake, and we were kind of terrified actually, and she sort of blew it off, and she said, we'll be okay, it's all right, it's always like this in italy. and she took her fame casually and i think was able to use it to drive real substantive social change. so that's what is so special about her to me, that she was able to take something and make it -- use it to make the world a better place. >> sally morrison, thank you so much for sharing your memories again. and our condolences to you and her family. >> absolutely. thank you very much, matt. >> all right. we're going to be right back.

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burned more than half a million acres and it's not yet april. and with more americans living near danger zones, the insurance industry is anxious to keep those flames at bay. nbc's tom costello is at their test center in richburg, south carolina. and tom, last time you were there, they were recreating a hurricane. and this time, it's a wild fire. >> reporter: this time it's a wild fire. the insurance institute for business and home safety has got this massive test chamber. they have divided the roof into three sections, three roofing materials. they want to see how it burns, and the stakes could not be higher. in the western suburbs of denver this week, it's been an all-out fight on the ground and in the air. high winds and an exceptionally dry fall and winter have brought an early start to fire season. the scenario is hardly unique to the west. nationwide, one out of three homes now sits near wild land space. and wildfires caused some half billion dollars in property damage and losses each year.

so at the insurance industry's testing center in south carolina, they're creating their own firestorm, putting a test home right in the path of blowing, hot embers. because they have discovered it's usually the flying embers that start house fires, not the actual flames from a wildfire. >> those embers land on things around properties that ignite. there is no one there to see it, no one there to help, no one to put it out and the houses burn to the ground. >> reporter: dry vegetation on the ground, on the roof, gutters, even brooms, birds' nests and wood fencing can provide perfect kindling. you see how the embers are dancing across the roof and they're about to catch those pine needles on fire. that's what researchers are watching. how quickly would flying embers catch pine needles on fire and then bring a whole house down? in this case, the fire-resistant roof kept the flames from eating all the way through the asphalt shingles, but the embers did like the dry vegetation on the gutter, and the fire then spread

to the eaves. >> what that says is we don't have to have overwhelming force to keep this from happening. what we have to do is get rid of those ignitable materials. >> reporter: fire experts call it a defensible space. a 100-foot perimeter to keep embers off the home. >> if we can prevent that from happening, we can save people's homes. >> reporter: because firefighters are battling a wall of fire down the road, they may not have time to save your home. the thinking is of this is probably the least fire resistant roof, a wood shake roof that has not been treated in any way, very flammable. clay tile and metal would be better. it's important to check your soffits and eaves to make sure they are also not exposed or have vulnerabilities. back to you. >> good information. tom cost tom costello, thanks. and we're back right after this. [ female announcer ] smooth. like you've never felt before.

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good morning to you. it is 7:56 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. the day is off to a rainy and windy start for most of the bay area. christie smith is live in san leandro this morning. is it coming down on you? >> reporter: yeah, good morning to you, laura. i feel like i keep repeating myself every time i come on. here we go again. it is raining here in the east bay in san leandro. and it seems like it is getting stronger. it has been raining for about an hour now. lots of wind, everyone has their wipers on. now this morning earlier overnight two lanes in southbound 880 were actually closed because they were flooded. a van spun out and hit the center divide. drains were clogged. it was so wet out here even the emergency flares won't stay lit. so certainly something to think about this morning.

i was checking my facebook page before i went on, and a friend of mine posted she feels like she needs a row boat heading out this morning. >> make sheikh work from home. that would be nice. let's check on the bay bridge this morning with christina. >> good morning to you. the winds are increasing hour by hour as we head through the next two or so. as you can see, the moderate rain is pushing into the north bay. even the east bay is getting a bit of that. zooming into the cell, heavy rain comes down through vallejo and fairfield here in the next 10 to 15 minutes. this is just the beginning. we are going to see this moderate rain coming down throughout the entire bay area by about 9:00 a.m. we are just an hour away from this picture. we'll guide you through it all morning long. in fact, we'll do it right now with mike inouye. good morning, christina. some of the areas you showed, interstate 880 into fairfield, the cartinas bridge is also an issue hitting richmond. it is slow there as well as 680

out of walnut creek and concord. that's a problem for the commuters. across the bay, we have a backup at the toll plaza with metering lights on. all stalls have cleared slow into and out of the city. especially 280 southbound. heavier volume is there. slow down the peninsula into san mateo smacked over the next hour as we track your storm. then we are looking at the san mateo bridge. in the distance we have windy and wet conditions. watch the on and off-ramps and the wind is picking up on the hayward side as well as gusting across the bay bridges. an advisory for the san mateo and bay bridges. we'll have an update in a half hour as the "today" show returns in less than a minute.

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we're back now, 8:00 on a thursday morning, the 24th day of march, 2011. it's another sloppy day here in the northeast. 31 degrees, a little rain, and maybe wind in the air. not very spring-like, but you know what? >> what? >> you take what you can get. >> i'm matt lauer along with ann curry, while meredith is taking time off. we're going to talk about a heated debate over what one school in florida is doing to protect a child with a life-threatening peanut allergy. >> that's right. a very young child with a terrible allergy, and her

classmates have to wash their hands several times a day, and also rinse their mouths out. and this has caused those parents of those children to be very upset. you can see they're carrying signs, protesting. they want that little girl with the allergy removed from school. and we're going to hear both sides of a very heated debate, matt, coming up. also, ahead, we're going to try to imagine what it's like to be 80. peter alexander spends some time in an aging suit to supposedly have some more empathy. natalie is going to put the suit on in a couple minutes and check that out, as well. it takes a while to get in and out. >> i don't want to put it on. >> i feel like that when i get up. i don't need a suit. anyway, we've also got bradley cooper who is of course the star of "the hangover." >> all right. let's go inside. natalie standing by with a look at the news. >> matt, ann and al, good morning. u.s. led coalition aircraft attacked moammar gadhafi ground

forces today to release pressure on rebels in the city of ajdabiya. and last night, anti aircraft fire an explosion lit up the sky over the libyan capital of tripoli. two workers at that damaged nuclear power plant in japan were sent to the hospital today after they stepped in water contaminated with radiation. it was the latest setback in efforts to restore electricity to the plant's cooling system. meantime, stores in tokyo are now rationing essentials after a run on bottled water following warnings of some radiation in the city's water supply. just hours after a deadly bombing at a jerusalem bus stop, israel's air force struck hamas targets in gaza overnight. gaza then returned fire with rockets and mortars. meanwhile, in neighboring syria, activists say 15 people were killed wednesday in a crackdown on protesters demanding government reform. an american soldier was sentenced to 24 years in prison wednesday for the murders of three unarmed civilians in afghanistan.

specialist jeremy morelock agreed to testify against four other members of a so-called kill team in his brigade that allegedly plotted the killings of civilians. and in defiance of the recent wintry weather, washington, d.c.'s cherry trees are blooming. and because the trees were a gift from japan nearly a century ago, this year's cherry blossom festival will raise money for that country's disaster relief. so it all goes to a very good and necessary cause. it's 8:03 right now. let's get a check of the weather with mr. roker. ♪ >> "today's" weather is brought to you by chico's. it's who you are. so chico's. >> we've got a huge school here, the mccarthur brommen from san antonio. 164 of them. they're also over here and there. look at that. man. it's the mac band. yes, they're the mac daddy of high school bands. let's check your weather.

we'll show you our pick city of the day, dayton, ohio, wbtn. clear skies, cold. tornadoes in tennessee and pennsylvania. another system coming onshore in the pacific northwest, california, heavy rains, thunderstorms, isolated tornadoes possible. snow in the mountains, heavy snow. mid section of the country, the plains all the way to the gulf, plenty of sunshine. chilly in the north, and as you head down south, more warm temperatures. 86 degrees today in well, the weather in our neck of the woods is starting to get active right now, so you want to plan on giving yourself extra time to get to work this, mo. it will take you longer than morning because of the wet and windy conditions we are already dealing with. the sustained wind speeds are between 10 to 20 miles per hour. we are expecting the numbers to pick up throughout the morning. the first of the moderate rain is pushing into the east bay right now. this will continue heading

throughout the next hour. we'll see some very moderate to heavy rain develop over the entire bay area. the potential for flooding all day long. travel cautiously. l go to protect a little girl with a severe peanut allergy? we'll get into a heated debate, right after these messages. ♪ special k protein shakes -- ♪ a truly great-tasting breakfast shake. with 10 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber, it's the creamy, delicious way to satisfy... your hunger to help you lose weight. ♪ so you can kick the tin can habit. try special k protein shakes today. so you can kick the tin can habit. i wear what i love, because expression means everything. ♪ too hot to trot some say i'm one-of-a-kind. i say i'm so chico's.

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i wear what i love, because expression means everything. ♪ too hot to trot some say i'm one-of-a-kind. i say i'm so chico's. back now at 8:09 with the uproar at an elementary school in florida over a 6-year-old severe peanut allergy. to keep her safe, to keep her safe, strict rules are being enforced on her entire class and some of the parents are just not happy. nbc's carrie sanders is in edgewater, florida, with the story. good morning. >> good morning. school officials at the

edgewater public school say they're bound by federal law, the american disabilities act, to ensure this 6-year-old little girl with a peanut allergy gets the same access to education as any other student. but the parents of the other kids in her class say attending to those allergies is creating a rash of problems for their children. 6-year-old arianna bailey's parents say their little girl lives with a constant tlit, exposure to peanuts could kill her. a warning on the front door at her house reveals contact with any nuts could be fatal. but some parents at the girl's classmates say their kids are the victims. >> concerns we have are the rights for our children. we feel like they're being taken away all for one particular child. >> a snack out of the closet. no peanuts. >> reporter: 7-year-old jasmine is one of 32 classmates. her mother carrie says requiring

all the kids wash their hands an rinse their mouths twice a day is an ordeal that unreasonably impacts the school day. how much time is being wasted washing hands in your mind? >> almost 30 minutes a day. >> reporter: in a week? >> 2 1/2 hours. >> reporter: you add it up over the school year? >> almost 80 hours. >> reporter: that to you is? a lot of time taken away from their education, a lot of time. >> reporter: school officials dispute it takes that much time. they say there's a routine. the kids wash their hands before entering the classroom in the morning and wash again an rinse their mouths after lunch. >> the two classrooms are nut-free zones. nothing with nuts is brought into the classroom. >> reporter: the most recent cdc report says 3.9% of children under the age of 18 in the u.s. have some food allergy, an increase of 18% over the last decade. if this is a life-or-death situation, what happens if you push too hard for the rights of the many and the little girl is

exposed? >> i really can't answer that question because i don't know -- we do want to accommodate this child. we want her to be at school. we want her to be safe. >> they're trying to take away all our rights -- >> reporter: parents who complain say it's not just the hand washing. they believe that classic childhood tradition snack time was canceled this year to prevent any possible peanut expose yur. schools officials say that's not the case. >> where is it going to stop? what are they going to do next year or the next six years? it's got to stop. >> reporter: the debate here appears to be far from over. the parents of the child who has the allergy have not brought her back to school now for the past four days. meantime, they tell reporters that they would give anything for their daughter to be normal, but this is a life-or-death situation. meantime, the parents of some of the kids in the class have also kept their kids out of school here trying to force the school

board to come to a different sort of resolution here. ann? >> kerry, thanks. dr. margaret smith is the superintendent for volusia county schools and dr. elana levine is a spokesman from the american academy of pediatrics. good morning to both of you. first, dr. smith, you're on the line because you obviously have a public relations problem with all the parents. first of all, what is your response to this argument that 30 minutes a day, 2 1/2 hours a week are being spent out of the children's education to protect one child? >> well, first of all, i believe there are certainly some misperceptions and misunderstandings on the part of the other parents. it certainly doesn't take that long. washing hands twice a day and wiping around the mouth is what is required. >> how much time does it take? do you agree with this idea that it's coming out of the education time for these other students?

>> we have two sinks in each of the bathrooms for the boys and girls. the impact -- the class size is not that large, and so i don't believe it's an impact on the instructional time or the educational time. as i said, i think this is just some misunderstandings and misperceptions. we're trying very hard to work this through. one of the administrators at the district level who works with schools in that area has actually been meeting with each of the parents individually who have concerns in reviewing the procedure and the process and working it through. and i know that all of our parents want each child to be safe. i believe we can work this through and have a balance. i know it's an emotional issue. but we've been working very hard as a school district to protect the child's safety with the peanut allergy and also address the concerns the other parents have. >> hang on there and let me ask

you, dr. levine, it seems to me there's -- with all due respect to the parents that are upset tlrks seems to be a missed opportunity here. there is an opportunity to teach your child compassion, that there's a child who might get really sick if they're exposed and maybe we should all work together in this way. >> that's exactly right. i think the parents are missing this golden opportunity to teach their children a sense of community, a sense of citizenship. young children are smart and they like to help their friends. i think if we change people's thinking about this and realize this child does have a disability, but all the children can work with this child to create a safe environment in school, it would really alleviate a lot of the problems. >> we saw some of the young people actually carrying signs outside in the protest which is also telling them a certain message. they seem very clearly set on this idea that the education of their children is being impacted and that is understandable, why they would be upset if that -- >> if that were true, i understand. i think there are so many children that go to school with

food allergies. the physicians work with the parents and the schools to develop a food allergy action plan. as long as that's in place, children can safely go to school without impacting the other children. >> what is this about rinsing out the mouth? you're a pediatrician. is that required? >> that's nothing that i've ever required before. i do like my patients to sit at what we call nofood allergen awe tables, none of the foods that the child is allergic to would be at that table. >> dr. smith, why do you require the washing of the mouth? why not have the allergen-free tables and hand washing? >> it is correct that there was a time period when the mouth was being rinsed. the students were rinsing their mouths, but now they're just washing their hands and wiping around their mouthing. the student with the allergy actually eats in

herself-contained classroom with her para professional. the other children can sit certainly at any of the tables in the cafeteria for lunch where they would prefer to sit where they would usually sit. however, we do have other students in the school, the same school with nut allergies not at the same level of zef virity as this student. we do have a table in the cafeteria where those students can sit. >> this is certainly not going to be the end of this. however you resolve it at your school district, dr. smith, really there's an increasing allergy among young people. dr. levine, thank you so much, dr. margaret smith, good luck to you. thank you. just ahead, the star of the number one movie in the country, actor bradley cooper is here this morning. we'll be speaking the him right after this. [ male announcer ] from advances in medical imaging that help doctors detect diseases earlier. to innovations in renewable power that bring america closer to energy independence.

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back now at 8:21 with actor bradley cooper. his film "limitless" is tops at the box office. he plays a struggling writer who is introduced to a pill called nzt, and once he takes it, he becomes a whole new person. take a look. >> a fight? i don't know how to fight. or do i? >> take them inside the mouth, like this. >> it's cool. bradley cooper, good morning. nice to have you back. >> yeah! wow! >> is that over the counter? >> yeah, yeah. >> i need to get some of that. number one at the box office.

>> crazy, yeah. we were all very surprised. >> why? >> well, i mean -- well, first of all, it's a drama, it's a thriller, you know, it didn't cost that much. it cost like $27 million, and, you know, just this topic, you don't know, it's a unique story. you never know how that's going to play out in the marketplace. >> yeah, about a guy who is suddenly able to use 100% of his brain. for me, that would be a big stretch. >> well, i acted it. i wish i had it right now. it was great. i mean, to play a character that goes from a to z, starts out as this down and out writer who can't finish a book contract to a guy who writes it in four days and gets to, you know, go toe-to-toe with robert de nero's character, so it was a dream for me as an actor. >> what is that like, going toe-to-toe with deniro? >> scary. >> in a way. but the truth is, he is such a great guy, a wonderful guy. and it was probably the easiest time i've ever had acting,

actually, because he's very present, and forces you to be present. and it was wonderful. it really was. >> the fact of the matter is, for the most case, you have been parts of ensembles in the past, "hangover" probably be the most famous. you're in just about every scene of this movie. >> yeah. >> and so the whole shooting process had to be different for you. >> it was. it was like when you're doing "the hangover" or "a-team," you were with three guys. and this one, you're by yourself, and you stop in towns and robert deniro is there, but you are by yourself with the director. and it is different. and especially with this movie, because he's on the drug, he's off the drug, he's on the drug, but he's coming off of it, it was very meticulous in terms of knowing where we were in what part of the day. >> and shooting in order? >> no, not shooting in had order. >> why? >> well, it's part of the challenge of making a movie. but the biggest thing was i wish we could have shot it in sequence, because before he takes the drug, he's supposed to be heavy. and so i would eat a bunch of

chinese food just the night before. and i was very uncomfortable the next day. >> "hang over ii" it's in the can, no pressure. >> yeah. >> i don't think anybody is -- it's going to be the most successful r-rated cam deever. what do you think about? >> i'm so excited. the truth is -- and i never say this. to anybody. but i really feel like it could be just amazing. >> really? >> i really do. >> people always love coming to be interviewed by matt. >> greatest thing in the morning. >> you feel strongly about it. >> i do. todd phillips is at the top of his game, the director, and zack, they're incredible. but i think the main thing is bangkok. we shot in bangkok, which is like vegas on steroids. it was just incredible. >> good luck with that.

>> yeah. thk u so much. >> like you need it. >> bradley cooper. good morning to you. 8:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. stormy weather is in the forecast this morning. today in the bay's bob redell is live in marin county with more. oh, my goodness, we can barely see you the storm is so bad. the camera is fogged over. >> reporter: yeah, that's what's happening with the weather and the moisture. it has definitely got into our lens here. we are at northbound 101. you are looking at the lucky drive off-ramp through madera. we expect it to get worse as the tomorrow storm is expected to be worse. we are going to get an inch of two of rain.

this will be the heaviest of downpours we are expected to have the next couple of days. as a result of what's happening right now, the shoreline unified school district here in marin county is actually canceling classes today. their schools are shut down because of the road conditions being so bad. that's only the shoreline unified school district. it does not affect any of the other school districts here in marin county. oing to ha our own meteorologisg gng to have more after this.

good morning to you. well the heaviest rain has arrived and will continue for the next few hours. and then our focus will shift to the or the mags of thunderstorms in the bay area. that's the potential after 11:00. we'll talk about what's happening right now. take a look at the line of showers that just developed, really treacherous driving conditions headed to i-80 here in the next 15 minutes. storms continue to pound the bay area. we have windy conditions as well. we are tracking it all morning long. back to you. it is really coming down out there, play it safe. i'll have another local news update in a half hour. the "today" show is back in less than a minute.

on a new day, kirsty alley. updating a new children's books. >> the csa, pat down the bunny. show" withshow" with jay, tonight, on nbc. we're back now, 8:30, on a thursday morning. the 24th day of march, 2011. big crowd assembled here in rockefeller plaza. we've got lots of people. out on the plaza, i'm matt lauer, along with ann curry. and al roker.

coming up in this half hour, what's it like to feel as if you're 70, even if you're only in your 30s? natalie is about to find out. she is wearing a special suit in our studio right now, designed to simulate the limitations of aging. we're going to find out how that's going in just a couple of minutes. >> she looks so hot. >> she always does. that's a very interesting exercise. you've got to compare yourself and maybe do it to not have some of the effects. also this morning, very serious topic. imagine losing all of your life savings. it actually happens to a couple we have i believe in the green room, a husband and a wife. and they lost it in the bernie madoff scandal. coming up, we're going to find out what you can learn from that experience. and if you have a high school senior in your home or you know one, you know it is nail-biting time, as college acceptance letters are going out. you don't know anything about that, ann. >> yes, i do. >> we're going to have advice on how to pick the right college for the right price, for your

scholar-to be. >> can we just do something quick? >> sure. >> take a live shot of our control room, right? bradley cooper, you think he's popular? they're begging him -- begging him to come down to the control room. he's going to be -- going to be heading to graphics after that, hair and makeup and all kinds of places. >> that's nice of him to spend his entire day with the women of nbc. >> she will be so impressed with bradley when she has got joe mi michaels there. >> anyway. >> let's get a check of the weather. >> let's look ahead to the weekend and see what's going on. erika and bradley have beautiful weather for the northeast. saturday for their long weekend away. rain in the southeast, mild conditions in the southwest. the west continues to get pounded. and then sunday, sunday! we're looking at more rain in the pacific northwest. sunny and cold in the northeast. showers work their way into the lower mississippi river valley.

texas is going to be hot, where we've got all of these texans hangin well, we are watching a severe line of showers pushing towards vallejo right now. i-80 already got slammed by this first line of moderate rain. look what is headed here now. throughout the next 10 to 15 minutes, treacherous driving conditions. if you can, postpone your travels through this neck of the woods. i highly recommend you do. so we'll see heavy rain continue through noon through the gator greater bay area. at 9:00 a.m., which is getting close now, most of the rain will start to come down over the greater bay area. we could see up to two inches of rain per hour. we ann? >> all right, al, thank you so much. coming up, we're going to show you an aging suit that makes you feel like you're 74 years old. natalie has tried it on. but first, this is "today" on nbc. it's not that the easy days, are what keep me coming back for more. and the customer says, on the carpet." what? gonna be difficult. don't tell me about a dog. a day care full of kids, house chickens. call a day's work. call 1-800-steemer

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this morning on "forever young," preparing for old age. studies suggest that understanding how we age can greatly improve longevity. now there is a way for you to experience what it feels like to be a lot older. nbc's peter alexander got his own personal glimpse into the future. peter, how did it look? >> matt, i have new respect for you. >> that's not nice. >> just kidding. >> statistics here are staggering. in the u.s. alone, 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every single day. of course, they're going to have to adapt, but so do the rest of us. and now there's a new team of researchers trying to help. ♪ ♪ as i get old i'mluti i'm losing my hair ♪ >> reporter: you've heard it said before, you're not getting older, you're getting better. at least that's what we like to believe. but the fact is, no one likes getting old. >> think it's funny being old? my whole body is falling apart. >> reporter: in the next two decades, roughly 72 million americans, one fifth of the population, will be 65 or older. >> shift and click.

>> reporter: dr. joe coughlin and his team of engineer's at m.i.t.'s age lab are planning ahead. >> when we think about an older population, we think of our grandparents and more of them. but we're different. and we're not just older, but we're going to expect more. >> reporter: the first challenge, to understand what aging feels like. research associate katie godfrey outfitted me in an outfit called an age game now empathy system, a specially designed suit to transform someone, say a 34-year-old correspondent like me, into a 70-year-old. a harness and tight bands restrict movements. rubber gloves weaken your grip. >> step in. >> reporter: padded shoes throw off your balance. along with a neck brace and tethered helmet, to create spinal compression. and to top it off, goggles to blur your vision. >> there is nothing pleasant about aging. >> reporter: the effect, what doctor coughlin calls the three

fs. friction, frustration -- and fatigue. >> i'm just going to sit. >> reporter: the purpose of all this, to simulate what it's like for a senior to navigate daily activities, like grocery shopping. >> if it's not right in front of me, it's almost not worth it. up here is exhausting. of down there, i fear tumbling over. >> reporter: driving a car -- >> whoa, whoa, whoa. it was groeen i thought i was going to hit that guy. >> reporter: and the simple joy of baking cupcakes. >> yeah, can't get it open. it's not easy to take this off. this is not going to be a good cupcake. >> reporter: m.i.t.'s goal, to help businesses reinvent products and services for an aging population. it's a strategy already being embraced by stores like walgreens, with lower shelves now making items easier to reach, and bold signs labelling each aisle. after an exhausting afternoon, as ago necessary -- >> i'll get the door for you,

agnes -- >> age before beauty. >> reporter: i had a greater appreciation for a very special senior. >> pretty good, right? >> reporter: meet my grandma. as she would probably tell you, she is 93 and 4 months and still going strong. with plenty of good advice for the rest of us. >> don't groene and complain. nobody wants to hear you. and just expect everything to work out. >> reporter: love that grandma faye. she had great advice, but what i really liked was her strategy if she has trouble reaching down to pick something up off a store shelf, she waits for a younger male to come around and ask for help. so natalie can hold on to that. >> joe coughlin is the director of m.i.t.'s age lab, joe resnick from pittsburgh medical center. and natalie is testing out the suit. foo natalie, good morning. gentlemen, good morning. who are you building these for? ceos of companies to try these?

>> this is a tool we developed to help companies and governments better understand how to redesign transportation, devices, the house, everything you do every day. >> so you're going to make a bunch of these suits, you're hoping that corporate america or corporations around the world, they embrace these things, and it allows them to see things in a different way. >> there is a new business of old age. we are expecting far more, they expect new and better. >> by the way, you mentioned business. by selling these suits, is this a business unto itself? >> i don't think so. i think what's important to know about aging is that it's not something that starts when you're 65 or 70. it starts when you're 30. we grow and develop until we're 30, and aging starts right then. the good news is, we have about four or five times more capacity than we need at 30. and we lose about 1% a year. so by 80, we've lost half. but we still have twice more than capacity than we need to function. and aging, therefore, has a lot of good things that -- i'm glad you emphasized your grandmother. >> you have had this suit on for how long now? >> a good 40 minutes. >> the first thing you noticed when you put the whole suit on

was what? >> completely restricted. i mean, there's a pelvic harness which is strapped to these bands, so i don't have mobility like i normally would. and i'm completely off balance, because i have pads under the shoes, so everything is off center, off balance. and i can't do what i normally do. >> let's try a couple of simple tasks. the simple thing of getting out of a chair, okay, which is fairly a low chair, which a lot of seniors have are trouble with. >> and all right already, i feel to get out is the restrained motion. i don't have that -- i can't just pop out of the chair. >> okay. can you sit down easily? >> yeah -- >> slowly -- >> it's much slower. >> we're going to try and pour the milk into the cereal, and have a little of the cereal. >> all thumbs, because i have two layers of latex gloves on. >> and that is to simulate -- >> well, naltsly, what you might be feeling, we want you to get that ah-ha moment to feel that little bit of friction tod do te things you do every day. >> yeah, i feel the friction.

and it's also -- i feel all -- like my joints are completely compressed. and -- >> well, imagine now you're pouring milk and sitting still. >> and i can't see. >> the u.s. department of transportation using public transit, walking across the street. >> not easy. >> can i emphasize, this is not inevitable. this is -- this is subject to change in the way that you live and the way that you age. and this is not inevitable. and it's important for people to understand that. >> yeah, the idea is that aging is a marathon, not a one-time activity, so work on well-being at a young age. >> clearly -- that's not cereal, that's potpourri, actually. >> this is the hardest part, i would say, is bending over and reaching for smaller objects. and here it requires more effort. it seems like such a simple motion, but everything, your tactile awareness, all of your senses are completely thrown off. >> but again, in agnes, that

letter that jumps out to me most is e for empathy. you want people to understand what this is about. >> this is a tool for business, government, and for all of us to understand what aging is about, and how we can plan for tomorrow. >> guys, thank you. really appreciate it. fascinating stuff. you can get out of this. >> the positive part is great, and what she said, in her 90s is what normal aging is. in the absence of disease. it's important to remember. >> all right. guys, again, thank you very much. up next, a woman who lost her life savings in the bernie madoff scandal and what it taught her about our relationship with money. first this is "today" on nbc. versus toyota. which is better?

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i wanted to do something bigger than myself. that 3-day gave me that opportunity. and i can actually do something to help. i think it's a very bold thing to do. 60 miles in 3 days-- i can do that. i'm sure if it was 100 miles, we'd still walk it. it was a big statement for me of... (voice breaks) i'm alive. we can do this. we can do this. we can rid the world of this terrible disease... so that no mother... granddaughter... sister... daughter... mother... go through what my wife had to go through. this is more than just three days. this is a lifetime. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. back now at 8:45, and this morning on "today's" money, your relationship with money, whether you have a little or a lot. many admit that it can be a bond that's both complex and emotional. >> my relationship with money is complicated.

now because i have so little -- >> and losing money can have a dramatic effect. >> emotionally, money makes me feel crazy. yeah. there's no security in it. fluid. comes and goes. one day you might have it, one day you might not. >> my relationship with money is scary. and just trying to provide and make that mortgage payment, and make that car payment and putting food on the table. >> but the relationship you have with money can affect how you spend or save it. >> we have a frenemy kind of relationship at the moment. obviously, i need money to survive. but i want to kind of pretend i don't need it. >> so how do you develop a healthier relationship with money? we have author janine ross who has written a new book called "lost and found, unexpected revelations about food and money." good morning. >> thank you, hi. >> first, we should probably tell people that you really understand this idea of losing a

lot of money. this has forced you to really be aware. what happened to you? >> we lost all of our money, every cent of 30 years of life savings, in the madoff debacle. and it was shocking. terrifying. and i know so many people who are going through this. but in littler ways. we took the express elevator down to the bottom. >> right. but it did teach you a lot. and here you are, still smiling and here to tell the tale how we can survive. let's talk about this idea of healthy relationships. you've done a lot of research about -- essentially food and our compulsive eating and dieting and how that can relate to money. tell us what you learned. >> yeah, what i learned is that most of us, and i saw this in myself, and it was shocking, that i spent money the way i used to eat. and by that i meant, that i used to diet, restrict, restrict, and then binge.

and with money what i did was, restrict, restrict, restrict, and suddenly i couldn't stand it anymore and i went out and i bought something. or i rationalized with food. if it's broken, and it wasn't meant to be, the calories don't count. you know that thing? if it's eaten with a diet coke, doesn't count. >> okay. so i think a lot of people understand that and empathize with that. so in reckoning, coming to a realization about this, what were you able to do? i mean, are you suggesting that you can change once we realize this kind of behavior? >> absolutely. you know, most of us feel so fuzzy when we're given financial advice. as we just heard, people have a real emotional relationship with money. and particularly in this downturn, it's even more so. and so that's the first thing. i want people to know that it's emotional, fuzzy, but if we understand the reasons why we're fuzzy, and my book really isn't about giving more financial advice, it's about helping us understand why we go fuzzy when we hear all of that financial advice. and then it's possible to get to

the other side of it. >> and what is on the other side, exactly? >> okay. >> because you had to make that -- the travel. >> i did. and this is the thing that's so important for everybody to know. i started to focus on what wasn't wrong in my life. what i had enough of, even though i had lost all my money, what did i still have? like the fact -- a simple fact. i could drink tea from my favorite mug. i would watch the hundreding birds outside my backyard. everybody, no matter what's going on in their lives, has a couple of things that aren't wrong. and it's the more you focus on what you do have and what you have enough of, that the happier you get. and then you can make other kinds of decisions. about what to do. >> you know what, i think there's a lot of wisdom in what you have to say. thank you so much this morning. and the book is called "lost and found, unexpected revelations about food and money." and coming up next, how to choose a college that offers the

best fit as an affordable price for your teenager. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on education nation. today the decision deadline, the envelopes are trickling in. it's time for students to decide which college to attend. so how do you decide which school offers the best fit at an affordable cost?

"new york times" national education correspondent jock designberg is also the moderator of its blog, the choice. jean chatzky is the financial editor. let's talk with financial aid, tough economic times, cost of education going up, a whole lot of families are going to need this. >> absolutely. and the letters are starting to roll in now. you should have them by mid april, and you have to choose by may 1st. >> all right. now, when these letters start to roll in, first of all, there's more competition to get into the better schools, jock. are a lot of people going to have to deal with something other than their first choice? >> i think for some kids, yes, if you're applying for the most select of schools, but everybody is going to get in somewhere terrific. you may not get into your first or second or third choice, but do remember, there's thousands of colleges in this country. >> get some acceptance letters. what questions do i need to ask myself about why this college might be a good fit for me? >> i mean, you don't have to make it overly complicated. i mean, basic things. do you want to be in an urban setting or rural setting? do you -- the social life.

is there an academic major you're interested in, and do they emphasize it? >> what about reviews? a lot of online sources now, where you can go and read reviews of individual colleges. do you put a lot of trust in those? >> i think it's okay to look at those sites like unigo, but i think students need to be sort of skeptical readers, and you could sort of very easily go down a rabbit hole with those comments. i mean, you have to really trust your own judgment. >> jean, let's get back to financial aid. so you have been accepted to a college, now you start to wonder about what are they going to do to make it easier for me to afford this college. how do you compare packages? >> the problem is that the letters are not consistent across colleges. so the easiest way to do the comparison is to take the total cost of tuition and subtract what they're offering you, not in total, but just in terms of gift aid. that's the grants, not the loans. because the los angelans you ha pay back. that will tell you how much you and your family have to come up with. >> but if one college is offering you a few thousand dollars more than other, is that

the decision? is there's got to be more subtlety than that. >> there is more subtlety, and that's a good word. colleges do not like you to quote, unquote, negotiate. but it's fine to pick up the phone, call the financial aid office or department and ask for a review of your file, particularly if anything has changed in your financial life, divorce or a medical issue. >> so this isn't like buying a car, i can't go to one college and say, well, the college across the state is offering me a better deal. will you match that deal? >> really bad idea. >> why? >> because you're dealing with people who are looking at your student as whether or not they're a good fit for your college. you start trying to play real hard ball, and they're going to say, fine, go to the other place. instead, emphasize the fact, my kid really wants to go here. we are trying to work it out. what can you, empathetic person on the other side of the phone do to help us? is. >> all right, let's say you get the letter and it's good news/bad news. you're accepted, but you're not accepted until the spring

semester. how do you suggest students weigh that option? >> i mean, increasingly, as these colleges get more applications, they're struggling to fill the class, they hate to say no, and so they will defer a decision to the spring or even the following fall. i think you need -- your child needs to ask themselves, would they feel like they were falling behind their peers from high school? but sometimes that break can be really welcome. >> and the last question is probably a hard one to answer. but this is where my son or daughter is going to spend four years of their life. so finances out of the equation, how much of the decision to i leave up to them and how much do i weigh in? >> i think you have to know your child, i think finances really are that area where you as a parent have to get involved. but in terms of the decision of the where, you want to let them take the lead. they're going off on their own. >> one of the most important decisions families will make. together. jean and jacques. like a company. just ah

good morning to you. it is 8:56. i'm let's check the forecast with christina loren.

in the past ten minutes we have lightning in samona county. it is getting very active out there and it will continue to be very active heating throughout the next few hours. you can see the heavy rain coming down this portions of northern california. take a look at what's impacting us right now. dangerous driving conditions along 880. let's find out how it looks with mike inouye. very slow. the east bay is slow all over walnut creek and the interchange as well as approaching the bay bridge. the peninsula has gotten smacked with weather as well. so slow north and south out of daily city considering the commute into the north bay. take it slow. another local news update for you in a half hour with all the news you need to know. the "today" show is back next.

. we're back on a thursday morning, the 24th of march, 2011. rain moving out overnight, and this morning we've got some folks doing some sight-seeing early in the morning. matt lauer along with ann curry and al roker. straight ahead, an update on an alarming situation at reagan national airport. two passenger jets forced to land on their own, because the pilots of those planes could not reach anyone in the control tower. officials now believe the lone controller on duty may have fallen asleep at the time. we're going to get the latest on

that story. >> shocking. well, that's a good question. and no camera or something to kind of keep an eye on the lone controller. anyway, also coming up this morning, more on the legacy of elizabeth taylor. tributes have been pouring in for the screen legend, the last of hollywood's goddesses, she has been described and also a dedicated humanitarian, praised for her grace, style, talent and work for aids research. we'll be talking to one of her long-time friends about her life and legacy. >> what a legacy. then, you know it's smart to buy big sizes when you go to the big box stores, but are you afraid to fry fresh food in bulk? we'll show you with a little planning, you can save both time and money in the long run. >> i'm always scared to buy large amount in bulk, because i'm going to try to eat it up before it goes bad. >> and it's hard to find those 82-pound chickens. >> going over to the news desk, natalie standing by, gotten out

of her aging suit. >> good for you. thank goodness. >> so happy. yeah, you avoided that. nice. good morning, everyone. and good morning to you all. a dangerous radio silence from a control tower at reagan national airport forced two planes to make risky, unassisted landings on wednesday. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams has the latest. pete, good morning. >> reporter: natalie, good morning. it happened as two planes were preparing to land within a few minutes of each other, asking for their final instructions from the air traffic control tower here at reagan national airport. but they never got an answer. and the government believes the only controller on duty may have fallen asleep. wednesday morning, just after midnight, an american airlines 737 coming from miami with 97 people on board contacts the control tower. but instead of getting the usual instructions, the pilot gets no answer at all. [ inaudible ] >> reporter: so the pilot circles the airport, seeking

guidance from a nearby air traffic operations facility in virginia, and is told, they couldn't get a response either, even on the phone. [ inaudible ] >> trying on a land line, and tried to call on the commercial line, and no answer. >> reporter: a man on board the flight says the pilot keeps passengers informed. t the. >> the pilot gets own the loud speaker and says sorry, folks, sorry, we can't land, i can't get in touch with the tower. >> reporter: the plane lands safely a few minutes later, following procedures for unmanned airports, making frequent radio calls to notify planes in the area of its position. around that same time, a united airlines plane, with 68 people on board, heading in from chicago, is notified by the operations center of the tower problem. >> yeah, just so you're aware, one aircraft going into dca, the tower is apparently unmanned. >> reporter: it landed safely too, and the tower controller was back on the radio about five

minutes later. but a former airline pilot calls it a serious lapse. >> of all the airports on the planet, this is the worst one for that to happen to. let's face it. that airport sits within a baseball throw of the pentagon, of the white house, of the capitol building. this is not a very good situation. >> reporter: federal officials say the controller who was on duty had an unblemished record. they're still not sure what happened, whether he did fall asleep or had a medical emergency or what. but in the meantime, the transportation secretary ray la hood has ordered the faa to make certain that two controllers are on duty on the midnight shift, and also asking the faa to check staffing at other air traffic control towers nationwide. natalie? >> pete williams outside reagan national, thank you. anti aircraft fire explosions rocked tripoli again overnight, but fighting continues in the east between government forces and the poorly armed rebels. nbc's chief foreign

correspondent richard engel was on the front lines with opposition forces. >> reporter: this is amazing, he just handed me his gun. i didn't realize until he put it in my hands, it's actually made of plastic. it's a toy. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: three explosions. 50 yards away. >> that shows you how dangerous the situation is there, and disorganized. richard and his crew, as you see, were unharmed in that barrage. three workers at japan's crippled nuclear plant were exposed to radiation overnight. two had to be hospitalized. meantime, in tokyo, panic over radiation levels in the water supply triggered a run on bottled water at stores. tornado clean-up is under way in western pennsylvania, where two dozen homes were damaged wednesday. the only injuries were minor. northern california was also battered by hail stones and high winds. and a sign of rebirth in

germany after the death of the beloved polar bear commute last week. a pair of twin poe polar cubs made their debut at the zoo, just in time for spring. oh, my goodness, they are just so precious. it is six minutes past the hour. let's get a check of the weather from al. >> i think we need to see some more polar bears. >> little polar bears. >> so cute. >> okay. there they are. everybody go, awww! all right. let's take a look and show you what's happening. and, again, we have some strong storms out west. we've got wind warnings, flood watches, winter storm watches, warnings and advisories, as another big storm pounds the west coast, and there's another one offshore, as well, waiting to come on. we're looking at heavy rain and then in the mountains, more heavy snow, cascades, sierras, looking at snowfall amounts anywhere from 6 to 12 inches, some areas picking up as much as 2 feet of snow, with 1 to 2 inches of rain north of los angeles on up into northern

california. that's what's going on around the country. well, we've got a really unstable air mass overhead. heavy rains coming down and lightning strikes now noticeable in sonoma county. that's a realtime strike you just saw. this will continue to trend to the south as we head throughout the day. looks like for the next couple of hours the most severe weather comes through the bay area in terms of heavy rainfall. we have strong winds out there as well, so you want to watch out for the possibility of downed trees, downed power lines, throughout today. if we see any tornadic rotation, we'll let you know immediately. have a great day. elizabeth taylor's life was not all glitz and glamour. peter alexander has more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. a lot of moving tribute throughout the country and the world today. of course, elizabeth day lore's career filled with so many memorable movie moments you can but her passing isn't the loss of one of hollywood's brightest

stars, also the end of an almost 70-year soap opera that americans couldn't get enough. ♪ >> reporter: for a nation obsessed with royalty, elizabeth taylor was hollywood's queen, as famous for film as she was for diamonds, drama and divorce. with those stunning looks and violet eyes, taylor was a household name by the tender age of 12. >> all day and every night, i want to be a famous rider. >> reporter: taylor later earned critical acclaim starring opposite her generation's top leading men. >> i tried with you, baby. i really tried. >> reporter: but her off-screen dramas would eventually become as memorable as her glittering performances themselves. more than 50 movies, sure, but the sultry starlet also had seven husbands. the first, a wealthy hotel heir, the last a construction worker. taylor lost husband number three, mike todd, in a tragic plane crash. but public sympathy waned barely a year later when taylor ran off

with singer eddie fisher, at the time married to her best friend, debby reynolds. on a notoriously expensive set of "cleopatra" she was a best known vixen, entering a rocky affair with also married co star richard burton. the tabloid called it the most public adultery in history. even the pope denounced taylor was a sexual vague rant. but she and burton would marry, divorce, and marry again. >> i'm a very committed wife. i should be committed, too, for being married so many times. >> reporter: throughout the years, the public couldn't get enough of taylor's glamor, the excess, and those jewels. fabulous jewels. she owned the giant pearl famously worn by bloody queen mary five centuries ago. and diamonds. elizabeth's name will forever be synonymous with those spectacular sparklers, too. >> these have always brought me luck. >> reporter: but luck always seemed to elude taylor when it

came to her health. she was near death with pneumonia in 1960, missing months of work on "cleopatra." >> mistake lore is carried from the plane in a wheelchair. >> reporter: a highly publicized illness that marked the beginning of decades of speculation about her well-being. among her struggles, chronic back pain, weight problems, and trips to rehab for addictions to both prescription drugs and alcohol. despite countless tabloid headlines about her near death, she soldiered on. in her later years, notably the first crusader to raise money for aids research. public appearances for charities, and to mourn the loss of her beloved friend michael jackson who she once described as the least weird man she knew. a classic movie star whose life could easily have starred in its own hollywood epic, taylor

mesmerized fans to the very end. thousands expressing their fond memories of taylor today, a lot reserving remarks for twitter, including the actress carrie fischer. her dad, eddie fisher. fischer wrote, if my father had to divorce anyone, i'm glad it was for taylor. >> i spoke to sally morrison, her long time publicist and friend, and i asked how her four children are doing during a very difficult time. >> i think as is expected, they're very, very sad. you have to understand that elizabeth is a national treasure, a global treasure, and i think that their whole lives of family have shared her with the world. and right now, this is their time to sort of be private and have her alone. and is i have to say, we're all really grateful the press has left them alone. and they need that time. it's their mom. >> i know she spent six weeks in the hospital this last time.

and i had heard there were some thoughts that she was improving enough, maybe where she should come home before things took a turn for the worse. it's a difficult question to ask, sally, but was she aware of the seriousness of her condition in her final days? >> i think she was very aware of the seriousness of her condition. she had been in the hospital a long time. she had been hospitalized for about six weeks. and she had been stabilized. she received fantastic care at cedar sinai, and with congestive heart failure, it can be managed and was managed for a long time. but you never know. i think all of us who loved her a lot had seen her get through so many extraordinary illnesses. in my case, you know, i sort of watched her over the past 20, 25 years, and she had been very sick many times, and she always had this extraordinary life force, and she sort of pushed through and came back. and i think we all thought that would be the case again, and definitely fervently hoped that. so it -- it's kind of shattering. and i think everybody around

her, her very close friends and her family, are just devastated. >> you know, i was trying to think overnight, sally, about why it was that people around the world seemed to identify with her so much. none of us live a life like the one elizabeth taylor lived. and yet perhaps it was the fragility of her that allowed us to identify with her. she had ups and downs like all of us, turbulence, health issues, addiction. is that what you think made people really recognize her? >> i think that's definitely part of it. that she had these real challenges, and she was very honest about them. she was very authentic. i mean, everybody has talked a lot, beautifully, in the last 24 hours, about her image, her beauty, her contribution to film. but i think the point is that her success and her appeal was based on something very authentic, very real, and honestly, very tubs active. and it's that substance that her

appeal was built on that has allowed her to do so much, for example to build an incredibly successful, great fragrance business. she was the first celebrity fragrance, and 20 years later, white diamonds is a top, top seller. and that's what those loyal customers have responded to, her real, authentic sort of zest and love for life. and, of course, her hiv work has been very much -- she has been able to do that because of that really sort of loyal following. >> i was wondering if maybe we could finish here, sally, by trying to -- people probably try to imagine what must have it been like to live in the shoes of elizabeth taylor. i know the two of you were in florence, italy back in 1991. just tell briefly what happened when she was recognized by a crowd of people. >> well, we had had come out of the aids conference, and she had made this extraordinary speech, and we were all very moved. it was very serious. and we -- she said, well, let's go shopping a little bit, because she obviously loved to shop. and we all trooped along after

her to where the beautiful little, cute little jewelry stores are and so on. and suddenly we started to feel this vibration, and there were suddenly, out of almost nowhere, thousands of people outside, and the bridge literally started to vibrate and shake. and we were kind of terrified, actually. and she just sort of blew it off and she said no, it's okay, we'll be all right, it's always like this in italy. and she just took her fame so casually, you know, and was able, i think, to use it to provide real substantive change. and so that's what's so special about her to me, is she was able to take something and use it to make the world a better place. >> sally morrison, on elizabeth taylor. and we're back with more of "today," right after this. so you have five brothers. tough being the only girl. aw, there's the man of the house. who's this ? this is rufus. hey, rufus. he's actually pretty talented. you wanna see him do a trick ? ok.

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their fares for some popular online sites so you need to know the new way to find the best deal. >> so the new way is these that bring together all these other websites. >> exactly. so right now, you might be looking at an online travel agency, something like an expedia or an orbitz that is going to give you a commission of that. but a better way is to use a giant search engine, like a kayak or a trip adviser, fly.com is another one that will search all of those sites, plus the airline carrier. so the search is just much more comprehensive, it's more likely you're going to find a deal. >> and the old rule was you found a good fare, grab it. not so much anymore. >> well, we want you to -- there are so many tools that will help you determine the best time to buy today. so to start, you can go to the website, bing.com/travel. and they have a price predictor tool that will tell you whether prices are likely to go higher, lower, or hold steady, and they

will also give you sort of how confident they are in that prediction. so you definitely want to start looking there. also, go to trip adviser.com. you can put your e-mail address in there, and you will get e-mail alerts if a fare drops below a certain price point. and then finally, if you're a fan of twitter, many airlines are tweeting these flash sales that are available for a very short time period. so follow the major carriers. >> if you buy a ticket on an airline and then, like, two days later or a week later, there's a lower fare, will they let you do -- switch those tickets out? >> not. usually -- you have to read the fine print, but there's all sorts of words in there like nonrefundable. of and if you find a better deal later, it's too late. >> here is one, you recommend people shop for opaque fares. of what is an opaque fare? >> where you don't know the airline, if you have any layovers and where they will be and also the time of departure. but you can save anywhere from

20 to 50% off published rates if you can be flexible. and these have been around for a while. a lot of people don't use them. and i think they are worth a look, particularly because there are limits to them. you're not going to have three or four different layovers. you can learn that information ahead of time. >> is that like with a priceline.com. >> exactly, priceline has name your own fare. hotwire has hot rates, and expedia has their bargain fares, definitely worth checking out. >> and then you say a lot of hotels will actually pay you back if you have to check a bag. >> so check bag fees are pretty much standard today, and they're rising, starting at $20 for the first bag. so hotels are starting to use this as a marketing ploy. of and a couple of them are saying, come stay with us, and we'll pay your baggage fee. so not all of them -- intercontinental hotel groups right now is doing a great campaign. and definitely worth asking about. >> and quickly, the last thing

utilize credit cards with travel rewards. >> of course, if you have been shopping -- or if you wanted to sign up for a rewards card right now, there are so many cards that will actually give you 10,000, 20,000 miles just for signing up. one of our favorites at "money" magazine is capital one venture card, so look into all of these rewards cards right now. >> all right. amanda gingler, thank you so much. and coming up, lindsay lohan's risky decision. the latest on her legal battles and the latest in all-natural baby products. first, these messages. if your racing thoughts keep you awake... sleep is here, on the wings of lunesta. and if you wake up often in the middle of the night... rest is here, on the wings of lunesta. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities

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you gotta try new honey bunches of oats raisin medley. coming up, all-natural baby products. >> plus, how to buy food in bulk and use it up. >> but first, your local news and weather. by a fashion photographer.losen then we asked them to try new dove visible care. a revolutionary new line of body wash with the highest concentration of nutrium moisture. visible care makes skin visibly more beautiful in just 1 week. ♪ when they saw how much more beautiful and radiant their skin looked with new dove visible care... there was only one question. ♪ new dove visible care creme body wash. you think i have allergies? you're sneezing. i'm allergic to you. doubtful, you love me. hey, you can't take allegra with fruit juice. what? yeah, it's on the label. really? here, there's nothing about juice on the zyrtec® label.

what? labels are meant to be read. i'd be lost without you. i knew you weren't allergic to me. [ sneezes ] you know, you can't take allegra with orange juice. both: really? fyi. [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief anlove a td .®he ® [ male announcer ] get zyrtec®'s proven allergy relief good morning, everybody. 9:26 now. i'm brent cannon. heavy wind and rain is hitting the bay area. we have new video from 101 in marin. it is just sloppy out there. this is kind of a snapshot of what you are going to face no matter where you are in the bay area or what highway you happen to be on. you are going to see local flooding and lots of some of these thicker pockets coming in. christina loren is tracking the system hitting the bay area right now. good morning to you. you can see how the reds and oranges, the heavy rain is coming down over the bay area. we are also noticing realtime lightning strikes in sonoma county. we are concerned about the

formation of strong thunderstorms as we head throughout the day today. let's go ahead and zoom in where the heaviest rain is right now coming down along i-80. interstate 80 near vallejo and richmond. we'll find dangerous conditions there. the south bay, the same situation here. heavy rain over los gatos, san jose, take it easy out there. and, of course, we have windy conditions as well. especially over the exposed bridges. mike inouye is going to show you how those look as st f yr morning drive veri comingp right after the break. o

welcome back. 9:28. we still have a lot of commute going on. the maze is going on. the slowdown near the east shore freeway is not consistent with what we typically see but jamming up coming off the richmond/san rafael bridge. the pattern is different with an earlier accident near richmond and a lot of rain. so the roadways here as well as 24 into the interchange are sorting themselves out, but 880 is the big problem now continuing as you head north from san leandro. a live shot shows the traffic pattern past the coliseum.

we have jammed up traffic at high street amidst the sloppy conditions. the camera is shaking because of the high winds there continuing down to the san mateo bridge. we have issues for wind, wet weather and an accident at the toll plaza. traffic is relatively smoothly there. across the peninsula, it jams in san mateo. heading south of there, the south bay is sorting itself out, but 280 and 101 has extended portions of this area. the only place getting a break is the tri-valley. 680 sunol southbound we typically see it jammed up, but we have not seen problems through livermore. 580 despite the wet weather is a treat today. we have crews all over the bay area right now getting the latest information and video. we'll have another update for you in a half hour. the "today" show in less than a minute.

♪ when i say that something i want to hold your hand ♪ ♪ i want to hold your hand you are looking at probably the most eligible bachelor in the world. now that prince william is off the market, set to be married in six weeks, many women are trying to catch the eye of the so-called fair to the heir, prince harry. we're going to learn about the harry hunters tomorrow on "today." >> harry hunters? >> excuse me? >> good lord. >> welcome to london.

hoping to catch his eye. >> anyway. also coming up this morning, we'll be talking about these organic natural products that are out now for -- they're really all the rage for children, including for babies. look at there. anyway, so there are a bunch of things to choose from, and we're going to take a look at whether or not what they're cracked up to be. >> that's right. when you've got a little one like that, you go to the big box stores to buy diapers, baby wipes, laundry detergent, paper towels. you can buy fresh food if you plan for it. we have chicken dishes that will make meal time a breeze and easy on the budget, as well. big chickens. >> really fat chickens. >> huge. >> and use them for several meals. before we get to all of that, a check of the weather with our al. >> chickens, dynamite. for saturday, wet weather in the pacific northwest. we've got rain in the southeast. sunny and cold in the northeast. warm around texas into the

southwest. then sunday, sunday! more sunshine in the northeast. but chilly conditions through the great lakes. wet weather along the southeastern atlantic coast. more rain in the pacific northwest. heat continues in texas with showers in the mid mississippi river valley. good morning to you. well, if you are just joining us we have a lot of rain coming down across the bay area. heavy to moderate rain coming down in portions of the north bay and east bay. and realtime lightning strikes now firing off just offshore in sonoma county. as you can see here, we have a lot of rain pushing through novato and vallejo making for dangerous driving conditions. this is just the beginning. we are going to be under the gun with heavy rain coming down the next couple of hours and windy conditions as well. we also have the possibility of strong storms later today. and that's your latest weather. >> thank you, al. coming up next, lindsay lohan's risky decision to reject a plea deal, righaft ter this. te works.

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dad's in the doghouse again. he just showed up with his client unannounced. not even a text. luckily, we've got kraft homestyle mac & cheese in the pantry. so mom can save the day. well isn't this nice. ♪ [ whispering ] dad really screwed this up. [ male announcer ] kraft homestyle macaroni & cheese. cheesy noodles topped with golden-brown, breadcrumbs. you know you love it. now to lindsay lohan's risky choice. she is rejecting a plea deal that may have meant jail time. kristen welker in los angeles again this morning with details. hey, kristen, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, ann. lindsay lohan's attorney tells nbc news, she believes her client will be acquitteded. legal analysts say it is likely they will argue she thought the store loaned that necklace to her. now she'll have to prove her case in court.

>> reporter: lindsay lohan, facing tough questions during a recent trip to new york. now, she is answering. according to lohan's attorney, the actress has turned down a plea deal that would have landed her back in jail. she is charged with stealing this $2,500 necklace she was pictured wearing. next stop, a preliminary hearing which will determine if the case goes to trial. >> at the preliminary hearing, the prosecutor has to show the charge of grand theft might be true. it's a low standard. >> reporter: legal analysts say this video could be key. the store sold rights to the footage, which allegedly shows the actress in the shop on the day the necklace disappeared. there is no audio, but you can see her trying on jewelry, talking to the clerk, and leaving unencumbered. a possible boon to the defense, says one expert. >> you see ms. lohan and a store clerk having very positive communications. nothing that would indicate that there's an argument, that miss lohan stormed out with the necklace. >> reporter: store owners maintain, they are the victims.

lohan has pleaded not guilty, and her attorney tells nbc news, though many advised her to follow the safe route by taking the deal, the truth is, ms. lohan is innocent. she has a strong defense, and we are confident. >> there's always, you know, things, you know, bumps that we have in the road. >> reporter: in a recent interview, the actress told "extra" she is focusing on the future. >> i miss being on-set. i really do miss it. and i know that, you know, there's going to be a lot of steps. but i'm willing to do what i have to do to get there. because, trust me, that's my passion. >> well, there's this guy in my calculus class. >> reporter: the actress has been in and out of jail and rehab for a 2007 dui arrest. recently, making more headlines for her attire at court appearances, than starring roles. >> what she really needs is to just get a movie, and at this point, it could be a tv movie, it could be anything.

>> reporter: now, lohan's next court date is set for april. that judge will determine if lohan has violated her probation again, based on these latest charges, and that could mean more jail time. in addition, a felony theft conviction carries a possible three-year prison sentence. >> kristen welker, thank you so much. coming up next, from sun screens to cough syrups, the best for your baby. that's r a ft r, olive garden

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[ female announcer ] smooth. like you've never felt before. ♪ touch of smoothness body wash with new hydra iq, nivea's latest breakthrough in skincare technology. provides moisture throughout the day with no greasy feel. beautiful moments are born in the shower. with touch of smoothness. look for new hydra iq in a variety of scents. nivea. touch and be touched. ♪ baby baby baby oh >> this morning on today's moms, all-natural baby products. moms are turning to products they can depend on that are healthy, organic and eco friendly. we have topics of natural baby products. melissa foss, good morning. >> thanks for having me back. >> a lot of parents are opting more natural ingredients in their products. how much different, and how natural, really, are these

products? >> they're very natural. and, you know, what we want to give moms is peace of mind. because there are so many products that are chemically laden out there, and we don't know what the effects are. so it's very worrying. these are great options that are just as effective, they're safe, and you can feel good about giving them to your kids. >> are there things to look for on a label that tell you that this is guaranteed an all-natural product? >> there are things to look for. it's really not a regulated industry. so as a mom, you have to be, you know, do your homework and look into what the ingredients say on the label. but there are things definitely to avoid, para benefits, fragrance, unless it's an essential oil. there are things that might be possibly carcinogens you want to avoid like the plague. >> let's take a look at these products, recommended by fit pregnancy. and avino baby natural protection mineral sun block, spf 50. >> right. and we love two things about this. first of all, it's completely

chemical-free. only uses a mineral. so when you put it on the baby's skin, the sun's rays just bounce off. nothing is absorbed at all into your skin. so it's really, really safe. and also, we like the convenience of it. it's a stick, so wiggly hands -- and on the tips of their ears, you don't miss a spot. >> and probably doesn't drip in their eyes and all of that. >> no. >> okay, great. next over here we've got these burt's bees, baby ointment. you want their tush to be protected. >> the secret ingredient in this is sweet almond oil, and it's been used for centuries, egyptians used it, and they're a known skin-soothing ingredient. >> smells great. >> smells great and affordable, $8. >> at drugstores, wonderful. over here, for toothpaste, an all-natural choice, tom's of maine. and does this have fluoride?

natural fluoride. so moms love that, and it's called silly strawberry and tastes like strawberry, because i've used it myself. and the kids will brush their teeth. of course that's the idea. encourage that behavior. over here, if your children in the back seat of the car, a lot of kids experience motion sickness, but there is a natural product to help with that? >> this is called motioneaze, and they don't ingest it, dab it behind their ears like putting on a fragrance. >> what is the active ingredient that keeps them from feeling the motion sickness? >> this has all sorts of natural ingredients in it. it's just a mix of completely herbal oils and definitely no chemicals at all. it's $6, easy to keep right in your glove compartment. >> worth a try, right, if you have kids who experience motion sickness. not fun when you're driving the car. >> no it. >> okay. over here, this is a blessing, a god-send, to every new mom. i went through gripe water because both my kids had had

colic, and acid reflux. and this is really just a soothing water for their bellies, right? >> right. you put a couple drops in their mouth or formula or whatever. and it has lavender and chamomile in it, so it soothes instantly, and it won't knock them out. >> right, no, definitely not, you don't want that. this is just about soothing that stomach discomfort. >> exactly. >> okay. hopefully, you don't have to use this. but -- this is a weapon against lice. the robi comb. no harsh chemical shampoos. >> remember the tar? >> yes, i had lice once as a kid. >> you're kidding. >> i know, horrible. you don't want to go through it. but the comb helps you. >> interesting. it goes in and find the suckers and zaps them dead. and you can also reuse it the next summer. if they get it again. >> all right. and over here, to help clear their nose if they're starting to feel a cold coming on, the kids' clear -- x clear.

>> right. there's an event called zylotol, a natural sweetener, maybe you heard about it in gum, a humectant and brings moisture into their nasal passages, because when they're dry, they're likely to get infected, so this keeps them from getting sicker. >> and a lot of parents staying away from cough syrup these days, and this is a natural form of cough syrup. >> yes, honey, been used for centuries, breaks up the congestion. so it's a really good one. >> all right. melissa from "fit pregnancy" magazine, thank you very much. >> thank you so much. >> next, we save you money and time by buying fresh food in bulk. sarah cooks us two tasty chicken recipes that your family is sure to love, and use up all that chicken, as well. but first,c. ttoday" on nbc.

and we're back. this morning in the kitchen, what's for dinner? how to use fresh food purchased in bulk. you know, you can buy a few chickens, and with some planning, you can have several meals on hand, saving you both time and money. sarah gore is the co host of "lx new york." good to see you. >> good to see you, al. always good to be in the kitchen with you. >> here's the deal. we hear about buying the staples in bulk, but fresh food, people are nervous about that. >> you know why, my sister called me and said i have so much chicken right now, i don't know what to do with it. but if you plan ahead, you can make stock and always have it on hand in the freezer, package frozen chicken into however big your family is. >> so that's probably the key, is, like, freezing and using -- >> friends with the freezer. >> friends with the freezer. >> use every bit of a whole chicken. >> so this is a chicken. >> yes. okay, so you butcher the chicken

and we've got the wings, the car cast, the breast. >> is it easy to butcher? >> yes, it is. and you can take the backbone out and flatten and do it that way and keep the bone in and cook it. >> mark bitman has a great video on new york times. >> and in his book, everything with pictures and he's excellent. >> yes. okay. so you cut it up. >> okay, so we're going to start with making a soup. and we're going to use the carcast and the wings. i'm not going to use this for anything else and give it a nice chicken flavor. so in here, we have any leftovers scraps of veggies you have, carrots, celery, onions, herbs, thyme and parsley. you're going to cook that down at least an hour or two. but the longer the better, obviously. and you strain it and there's our chicken stock right there. so you can freeze that at this point. if you chill it and scrape the fat off the top, it's better. >> so we're making a tuscan bean soup. >> we are. so we have celery, carrots, onions. >> called the holy trinity. >> i call it that, too.

so we're going to add chopped garlic and red pepper flakes. giving it a kick. if you like it spicy -- sure. okay, so i didn't want to burn the car lick garlic so i added that after. >> that smells good. >> doesn't that smell good? the holy trinity is making it happen. okay. so then to this we're going to add white wine. and the chicken stock. >> right. >> and then will you grab those legs? is. >> okay. give me the chicken. >> not mine. >> yikes. >> friendly sarah gore. >> getting fresh in the kitchen. okay. so that's going to cook for like 20, 30 minutes. >> okay. >> and then you're going to remove the legs, and as i was doing before, you can pull the meat off. and this is cooked down. i'm just going to add this. you can break it up more, but it has one already in there. the chicken is broken farther. we're going to add two cans of beans, and fresh spinach -- >> this is a very healthy dish. >> very healthy. you could use arugula, spinach,

your favorite greens. i like to add fresh parsley and then some parmesan cheese. and obviously, that shin afternoon is going to wilt quickly. and then we're going to serve some in here. >> i guess i should have taken the plate over to the dish. >> i could have done that for you. but look, it's very healthy. and you serve it with crosstini. >> come back and join us. there's a second way to do this. >> so this is the breast you had over there. you poach it -- >> mmmm. >> okay, so we're going to make a yogurt/curry mayonnaise, i know. so cilantro, some curry, some lime juice. thank you, al. and some honey. and then we're going to add the chicken to this. >> mix it all up. >> yep. >> easy. so easy. >> super easy. and as healthy as we want. that is toasted coconut, golden raisin and toasted cashews, all in.

>> lover that. >> should have worn an apron today. >> and neat wraps. >> and butter lettuce, really healthy. >> and the whole roast chicken. >> amazing, thyme, butter, fennel, caramelized onions, with or without gravy. thank you. >> always good to see you. >> always good to see you. coming up, competition when it comes to other moms and their kids. okay. that's coming up after your local news and

good morning, everybody. it is 9:26. i'm brent cannon. heavy rain and wind are hitting

the bay area right now. look at these pictures from marin. i don't want believe we are going to show you that, but we'll go to christina loorn loren keeping tabs on the radar right now. as we have seen the past 30 minutes to hour, look at all the yellow and orange developing over the bay area. we are seeing the brunt of the storm right now. if you can postpone your travels right now, i recommend you do so for the next hour or two. san francisco is getting hit very hard. the south bay also getting hit very hard right now. los gatos to san jose, we have had very heavy rain for the past hour. so very dangerous driving conditions as you head through here. and, of course, our next focus shifts to the possibility of severe thunderstorms developing as we head into this afternoon. we've already seen a few lightning strikes just offshore in sonoma. take it easy up in sonoma county and everywhere heading throughout the day today. now 57 degrees is the forecasted high. you'll need the jacket. you'll need the windshield wipers. and to help navigate through all that wet weather, here's mike

inouye. good morning. good morning, christina. you are talking about the sonoma issues, we have the north bay travel times slow out of novato down to the richmond/san rafael bridge. a note here, chp just told me they cannot allow big rigs to cross because of the high winds. keep that in mind. slippery down the east shore freeway, a half hour off the cartinas bridge. slow from 580 from 24 to the maze. 880, we'll look at the toll plaza, a slow drive crossing over to the toll plaza. it is slowing from the maze. it is slippery here. 880 itself and the memitz freeway is looking really bad right now. the san mateo bridge over to the peninsula, shaky here. big problems here with a slow drive from san mateo up to the city. a life look at the web cam shows 101 into the city. look at the headlights from san mateo into the city. very slow northbound for highway 101 with the wet roads.

the intense stuff is hitting you right now. we'll update you again in a half hour. the "today" show returns right now. d

"today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> it's trying to clear up around here. thanks, everybody, for joining us on this thirst-day thursday, march 24. at 4:00 a.m. it was snowing. at 5:00 a.m. it was snowing. >> i was up writing and i looked out and went, when is it going to end? >> i can't believe it's snowing in new york in the springtime, but it is. >> i remember in april there was a blizzard out. where was i?

i was in mexico shooting "the love boat" for another morning television show, and i couldn't get back because there was a blizzard, and it was like april 10 or something like that. >> all right. well, chris brown has apparently apologized, and you guys know the story. he went on "good morning america." he had some anger issues. he broke a window -- >> in response to a very gentle, we thought, interview. >> yeah, asking him about rihanna and he said he's past it and all that stuff. >> but we aren't, apparently, right? the press isn't. >> no, we're not done yet. he went on this show called "106th and park." it's on bet. here's what he had to say. >> i want to apologize to everybody who was disappointed in my actions because i was disappointed. i didn't mean to hurt anyone, i didn't try to hurt anyone, i just wanted to release the anger i had inside me. yes, i got very emotional and i

apologize for abti inacting lik. >> well, good. he didn't try to hurt anybody, but the truth is, had that glass window fallen down, it would have hurt somebody. so even if it wasn't his intent, that's what can happen. that's the repercussions. and where is this anger? he's angry that people won't let it go, but if you're going to be in this business, you got to grow up and realize that people are going to ask those questions. >> that is a given question. a lot of celebrities come in and want to talk solely about their book or about their album or about whatever, but there's more to their life. and especially on the news program, we always say, we're going to ask you anything and we will. you can choose to answer what you like. that's -- we can't control what you say, but we're going to ask you the questions. and if a question that i'm sure he's been asked before gets asked again and he's going to get that agitated -- >> he shouldn't be out promoting yet. >> he's not ready, obviously.

>> his cd, which is the one with justin bieber in it, is number 4. >> we wish the guy all the success in the world, but here's the problem. he feels like he is the center of the world. that's why people do what they do without thinking how it's going to affect other people. >> this is what killed me. he said here -- it's on the other one -- that he wants people not to threaten robin roberts, the reporter. i'm like, what are you talking about? for asking you a normal question? >> robin does not have a mean bone in her body. she's a doll. >> imagine, i guess, some weird tweet or whatever, but in that world, that's his world. >> that was weird. >> news about lindsay lohan, since we're staying on the subject of celebrities. she decided she doesn't want to plead, she wants to stand trial for the alleged theft of that necklace. >> she says it was loaned to her, and she stands by her story. but here's the thing, we only

have the surveillance tape that we're seeing here right now. but there's no audio on that, i don't think. so, to me, just because somebody doesn't -- somebody would have to say to me, you know what, kathie lee, go ahead and wear that for a while. >> got it on looking at it. >> but we don't know what was said. it's going to be her word against her word. >> maybe they could get a lipreader and figure it out. >> i just wonder how much money this is going to cost the taxpayers. they cannot afford this garbage. >> if she pled, she could serve three to six months in prison. >> oh, she would be out in two days because of overcrowding. >> probably right. either way, she wants to have her day in court, so there you have it. >> she is allowed by the constitution. >> there was another brawl that took place in the new york subway. >> i didn't mean it. >> here's the thing. the smell of foods can drive people crazy or watching people eat. so do you think it's a good idea to eat something in a confined

area? you know how sometimes people in the airplane pop open an egg something with vinegar? they open it on the plane, you're jammed in there and someone next to you is feasting on a tuna with onion and vinegar thing. >> a tongue sandwich. >> anyway, this lady was on the subway. she was eating spaghetti, minding her own business because that's what people do. and i guess the woman next to her said to her, what are you doing? what kind of animals eat on the train? and the diner -- we like to call her that -- responded, what kind of fat blank looks like you? and then a fight broke out. anyway, it turned into an all-out brawl over food. and now in new york, the guys who run the mta, the transit authority, they're talking about banning food. i don't think it was just because of this brawl, but -- here's the thing. riding on the subway can be icky. there are lots of things that are gross about it. >> they said in washington, d.c.

there is no food allowed. it is pristine. >> if somebody starts to open something, people give them the eye. but when somebody is opening food, there is a thing. you're not allowed to eat or drink on this. but those cars are so clean. now, in new york, they're different. i mean, it's a different thing. people eat entire meals and chicken teriyaki. you got to have it because you're on your way somewhere else. >> it comes down to the old thing, treat others the way you want to be treated. don't do it if it's going to offend somebody. if it does offend you, say it in a nice way. the way the woman said it, what kind of animal eats -- and she responded in kind. >> i love this story. >> i know some people don't think we should tell this story, but you got to love this woman. her name is helen stoddinger.

there she is. she's 92. she was arrested on monday. here's why. she was accused of shooting several times -- >> well, tell -- >> all right. her neighbor is 53 years old, so almost a 40-year age difference. she makes me and frank look like an amateur the other way around. so she has a crush that would make you act out on things. you've had crushes. you've never taken an uzi to somebody, right? you tell the story. >> they share meals, sometimes she would give him a kiss on the cheek or whatnot. at one point she wanted to give him a kiss -- >> she wanted him to kiss her. >> right. and he didn't want to, for whatever reason. >> okay. >> he didn't want to kiss her. she got ticked. so she walks over there with her gun and starts shooting up his house, allegedly -- there is the bullet holes -- she went to town with that. and she went to prison.

$15,000 bail. she claimed it wasn't only about the kiss, she says often she pays for the meals back to back, and she felt she was being taken advantage of. anyway, she did post her bail, thank god. >> darn, because i wanted to start a whole free helen thing. i thought maybe if we pay her bond, she'll come be our guest. i love feisty ladies like that. i'm just glad nobody was hurt. >> nobody was hurt. speaking of love stories, the royal couple, will and kate -- >> i'd love to know what our facebook fans and friends think of that. how much slide do we give someone because they are of advanced age? >> she shouldn't have gone to jail. come on. >> we want to know what you think about that. will and kate. >> you know there will be the usual memorabilia. here are some of the things they

have. they have cappuccino with their fac faces. if you want something more, you can get a whole cake. that's a cake. >> he looks like he's standing with -- oh, my god, they haven't looked so unattractive. >> anyway, the baker spent eight hours on it. >> sorry, baker. it's lovely. >> if you need somebody to put the cake, how about a refrigerator by ge. that's full-sized. sdp . >> i don't think will and kate will have that, so why would anybody else want it? >> and you can get will and kate painted on your finger nails. >> i have to have this. sick bags. >> if you really, really love them, the minute after they're done saying their vows, you're able to download their vows on

itunes. >> find your own prince and have your own life. first of all, as we were looking for it, got to show you -- >> the cutest picture. >> we're all in love with louis, sandra bullock's new little boy. this is the first picture i've seen of him walking. look at this. you have to see his little shoes. look how cute this child is! he's delicious. >> love that picture. here's a question. is it okay to kiss and tell in a book? >> since you and i have both written books regarding our lives, i said what, hoda? >> you said a book will live forever, unlike the past relationship. be careful what you write. >> and hoda said, i say no. don't waste the ink. he's not worth any more of your time. if you're torn at a time like that, you want your book to be

an authentic representation. >> you don't want to omit parts of your life but you don't want the dirty details. >> my dad and mom always said, speak the truth in the spirit of love. >> speaking of love, you're going to love this song. >> i doubt that. >> this is old. this reminds me of the frat parties in college where you're dancing sweaty. >> i went to oral roberts university. >> it's called "the bird" by the time. you're at your frat party. get ready. ♪ have you heard this dance it's called the bird. >> i thought the bird was something else? ♪

♪ >> you get it but it's called "the bird." "the bird" by the time. >> is that all we have today? is that it? >> real quick -- >> hoda and i, i've been working on my musical all this week, so we're not really getting to broadway, but last night we went to see a really fun play. it closes this week and it's called "black tie" over on the 59th street stages with my good friend greg gaedelmann, and the guy who plays the butler is just wonderful. >> he's so talented. four-time nominee. ♪

>>go! ♪ don't need your connections

if you're a mom, scenes from "the housewives" are all too familiar. how can we break this. >> here with answers are stacy kaiser, author of "how to be a grown up," and the author of another book. >> what starts to happen when you become a mom, if you don't have anything for yourself, that becomes your identity. you're pouring everything you've got into that child ask that's what kwlur competing for. >> you do wonder, is my kid ahead of the curve, behind the curve, is he or she where she's

supposed to be? >> the normal thing is wanting your child to be their best. the abnormal part is telling everybody how great your kid is and bragging all the time. >> you're a new mom, right? >> yes. >> you were at a party recently and something like that happened? what happened? >> there is a big controversy over breast feeding or formula feeding. a lot of the moms were sitting around nursing, and one mom made a big deal about whipping it out as opposed to having one of those covers. she talked about how she was a lactivist. so the big implication was you can't just be a nursing mom, you have to be a lactivist. that makes you a better mom because you're more natural, more organic. >> what, do you go to school to be a lactivist? >> let's say you're at a party and those moms start bragging like, my daughter does this, my

daughter does that. what is the right thing you're supposed to do as a mom listening? >> there's always the indirect approach, that whole, if you can't beat them, join them. you could say, wow, your kid is really talented. how can my kid be more like your kid? it might make the person stop. the second is to do an equalizing statement and say, you know what, it looks like both our kids are great, and aren't we happy? if it gets really challenging, what you want to do is set the person down kind of lightly and say, gosh, i feel like we're competing with each other and we're really good friends. let's try to stop. >> can you just stay away from those types of people? >> i'm a big fan of just disengage, let the comment go over your head. the kind of thing that fuels this competition is the one over another one. >> you know as a mother it

leaves very little time. i think i saw an adult movie -- not porn, i don't mean that. all i saw for seven years were disney movies. that's what you watched. >> are you guys seeing it more with stay-at-home moms, working moms, did they divide it into two camps? because i know there's a lot of friction between moms who choose to stay at home or those who can't or don't have to. >> you could be working at the school, you could be really involved in teaching your child to read, but it's really about not having your own thing to feel successful about, and so you dump all that pressure on your kids. >> your children actually end up defining you. >> absolutely, and it puts a lot of pressure on the kids. they feel like if they're not good enough, they're not talkable enough, you're not going to be discussing them at a party, you're not going to be satisfied. >> and you may feel like you're lacking so you're trying to make

up for it with that bragging because you feel you're not present enough, right? >> i think that's a big part of it. it comes from feeling powerless to wanting to be socially accepted and wanting to pat yourself on the back because you're not getting patted on the back elsewhere. >> i want to read about lactivism. going viral on the internet, after this. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from the eye care experts at bausch & lomb. so when allergies strike, add alaway. because it's not just your allergies, it's your eyes. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. in the eye care aisle.

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curve on the next big internet video? >> this next video features two and a half year old sam who won't let anybody steal his moment, including his yorkie. >> if you've ever seen this, you may recognize this scene as -- take a look. >> see the touch? the touch is to the side to do this. >> now, check out this little guy that we like to call the singing dog whisperer. ♪ puff the magic -- >> try again. ♪ puff the magic dragon lives -- ♪ puff the magic dragon lives by -- [ dog barks ]

♪ puff the magic dragon lives by the sea lolling in the autumn mist -- [ dog barks ] >> i don't know how old that kid is -- >> two and a half. >> he is a prodigy, that kid. first of all, that is so unusual for a kid to sing pretty much in tune like that and he even gets the word frolic. >> they don't even have a dog. they were having their parents shush the dog and he caught on. >> that's adorable. coming up, we're going to have our favorite dessert.

good morning, everybody. the time is 10:26. i'm brent cannon. we want to check in again with meteorologist christina loren giving us the very latest on this powerful storm moving through the bay area. >> yeah, this is one of the sights on the radar you don't see very often. take a look at all the heavy rain, really heavy rain inundating the entire bay area with more on the way. and this is the worst of the storm. that's the case over the next couple of hours, the heaviest rain will come through. take a look at just how much rain is coming down in the south bay right now. los gatos is getting slammed. san jose, you just got hit very hard. and this will continue for the next couple of hours, so the

potential for flooding will continue to be a factor. take it easy if you go out there to hit the highway. travel very cautiously. 53 degrees by friday. a dry break finally sets up saturday into the latter portion of the weekend. then next week warmer and dryer overall, which we all want to hear right about now. we'll find out how your drive looks if you do have to leave. mike, what is it looking like out er > mike wilhave thenswer to that cing up in just a minute. [ male announcer ] if you're ready for more from your tv service, get at&t u-verse today. at&t u-verse tv. make the switch! [ female announcer ] call at&t now to get u-verse tv starting at just $29 a month for six months -- hd-ready dvr included. or get up to $300 in a promotion card with a qualifying u-verse bundle.

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welcome back. comi comingup at 10:29 you'll watch this change, the conditions on the peninsula, northbound 101 at keyhole, no major injuries reported, but a car is overturn there had. southbound 280 is slow through the same area and delays are coming out of daily city. still slow down the east shore freeway. a 25-minute drive off the cartinas bridge now from the richmond/san rafael bridge down to the toll plaza with the bulk of the slowing there. slow on 880. here's the bay bridge toll plaza backed up past west grand avenue and still making its way to the maze. look at the rain drops falling right now. very wet, slippery conditions around the bay. 880 had an accident clearing quickly from the area. you can see how quickly this cleared. within five minutes all the lanes were cleared. very shaky shot here of the nemitz freeway hitting you around the bay.

the south bay has been getting hit hard. here's sunol slow through fremont. as far as the speeds go, that is, but the volume of traffic is lower. safer is slower. play it safe out there. the "today" show is continuing xtp ng.ne u style with the latest looks and spring shoes. perhaps in the northeast, we should still be talking about shoes. >> from jewel-toned shoes to flats, miss whitaker has them al all. that looks trendy. >> so some of us can know what to avoid. >> let's talk about the jewe jewel-toned. >> what's that mean? >> you've been wearing

jewel-toned shoes probably in your clothes, but you may not want to do jewel-toned from head to toe in the summer, so this is a great way to do it. you could do dressy or a little more casual. a real statement with these. >> these are gladiators. >> i just don't want to look like russell crowe. >> they are from the gladiator trend. they're called a caged bootie. >> i've got a caged bootie right now. >> they come in metallic, neutral or black. and, again, you don't necessarily want to do this in a bright color because this is a nice way to anchor an outfit that might be a little more exuberant. >> for me, i'm telling you what, it just draws attention -- it's

not in balance, usually, with everything else and it cuts your foot off. most people are challenged vertically, and it makes you look shorter, it makes you look dumpier. >> you could wear them with skinny jeans and actually it looks elongated. >> i'm going to do that. >> a chronic summer look and not exactly the wedge look we're familiar with. the idea you can wear this with a sundress, jeans and a t-shirt, and they come out now in punchy colors whether it's red. floral is going to be big for spring, and hardware like grommets. what's nice about these chunky

heels, they're lined with marina. super comfortable. or something a little more springy and summery with the rope detailing. this looks great with exuberant print. so if you don't want to wear neutrals up top, this is your moment to wear bright colors, bright floral, because you don't want anything to clash. >> look at the shoes you're wearing. >> now for our sandals, this is our boho trend. >> bo hehemian. >> it's global, it's beady. you can do it streamlined with some embossing. this looks like an alligator croc embossing. a little beading here that's an elegant shoe. >> some of this can be very expensive. >> these are actually baker's, $60. >> they look much more than

that. >> they look great with jeans and shorts and sundresses. >> thank you very much. we appreciate it. coming up, some reasons to grab your partner for a downward dog. >> do you know what that is? >> i do. >> we'll be right back. ain whis] we're here because we wanted to come as much as they did. (girl) it's really hogwarts! because i can fly with harry! because i love seeing him like this! (screaming) ahhhhh! (narrator) from unforgettable adventures to the wizarding world of harry potter, only at universal orlando resort. but i've got a warm, fresh baked strawberry toaster strudel. see the difference? mmmm. i do. (announcer) pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat.

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you want to enter the onstar push on sweepstakes. ♪ but do it soon. no purchase necessary. see rules at onstar.com to enter without a blue onstar button. it's time for a serious talk about a topic that is often taboo, you and your relationship with money. no matter how much you have or don't have is a part of kwour

life. >> how can we create a relationship with money? author jean lost hgeneen roth w the book "lost and found." the bernie madoff, that destroyed people's lives. >> it was horrible. it was horrible. we woke up one morning to a phone call to hear that we had lost 30 years of life saifgsvin and it was devastating. >> you and your husband when you say we, right? >> yeah. >> you say devastating. the way we equate it to how we think of food i find fascinating. we buy shoes and hide them under the bed so our husband doesn't see them. there are correlations, aren't there? >> yeah, there are. >> what did you discover during this process? at first you went through anger and then you started discovering things. >> i went through anger, devastation and shock, which is

what a lot of people are going through on different levels right now because of this economic downturn. >> and the older people can't work anymore. you're still able to work. >> then i sort of crawled my way out of it by focusing on what i did have instead of what i didn't have, what i had left. which are more of the tiny things every single day, like being able to breathe and see and drink tea out of my favorite mugs and watch hummingbirds, hold my husband's hand. >> everybody gets that. >> everybody gets that and everybody has those in their lives. >> you've written about this again and again, but somehow food relates to money. a lot of us have the food issue. me. >> we all do did a different way. >> explain how that correlates. >> what happens with food is we have an emotional relationship with both food and money. and with food we go through,

okay, i can eat that because it doesn't really count if i eat it standing up or if it's somebody else's plate or if it's off my kid's plate or like that. okay, i can buy that if i can advertise it over about 30 years at two cents a day, or if it's on sale it doesn't count. but the thing that both of them have in common is this feeling of not having enough, not having enough food. the one over there is always better than the one that's on my plate. >> it's human nature, isn't it? >> the black jacket i just saw is better than the two i just had or even the one i just had? there's always wanting. >> i bought things before on sale that i don't really like. but who cares because they're $14. you have to get it. i've eaten things i don't want because they're in the fridge. >> or they're free. >> or it's free, and after i'm done, i remember eating it, i didn't like it, but that's what i do.

>> well, you look darn good. it's working for hoda. but don't try this at home. >> what does that tell you about a person, though? >> it says to me there is an emotional reason why they're doing what they're doing. i'm not going to go too deep into this. >> oh, let's do. >> but if you at least acknowledge that, if you just say, okay, then you can start making -- you don't have to make yourself nuts about what you're doing. you can say, okay, i'm lonely. i'm sad. i'm bored. but you know what? guess what? eating this piece of cake isn't going to make it better and neither is buying this thing. >> well, you're really smart, and your other book, "women, food and god," which is still a huge best seller and so many women connected with it, and it's all the things we care a lot about. it's terrific. i'm glad you came out with another one. >> thanks so much. >> i'm glad things are still on

the mend for you and getting better. you have a lot of joy in your heart. >> yeah. and they can get better for everybody if we focus on what's not wrong. >> glass half full or half empty kind of thing. good for you. >> yeah, thanks. >> coming up next, a do-over. how to eat healthy stuff. >> i don't know if that's going to make you happy. plain arched its back and did proclaim, gain,

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♪ eat well, live long ♪ have a good daisy, work out, get strong ♪ ♪ when you need a lift, just sing a song ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy with a natural treat ♪ ♪ have a good daisy, healthy foods to eat ♪ ♪ when you want some joy, dance to the beat ♪ ♪ and have a good daisy [ female announcer ] enjoy the fresh, 100% natural choice in cottage cheese.

♪ have a good daisy ♪ have a good daisy twizzlers. the twist you can't resist. ♪ have a good daisy time to take you into today's kitchen where we're getting saucy with gail gibbons. >> top chef just desserts, host of "busy woman." >> desserts are supposed to be decadent, we want them as a treat. but we can also make choices to give them some value so they're not totally empty calories.

instead of the chocolate chip cookie, i'm doing a play on it. it's a pecan bar with nuts and some goodies. you want a small amount. i'm going to do half a cup instead of a full cup and half a cup instead of dry fruit which lowers the calorie count and fat, but still has great fiber. try to get fruit that's unsweetened. >> can i dump it in? >> you can dump it in. we're going to use whole fruit. we have butter, canola. i'm going to add one egg, a little vanilla. >> you know what i've wondered and never asked? how many calories are in

vanilla? >> great question. >> do you know? it just tastes too good not to have calories. >> i'm sure there is. >> maybe someone at home could let us know. >> is flour paste a little different? >> it's a little nuttyer. i personally love the taste of whole wheat flour. it adds a tastiness, a nuttiness. mix this all together. it comes together into a dough, dump in those pecans, the chips and the fruit. >> i think it would taste great even without the chips. >> no, we need the chips. >> but if you really wanted something -- you know when you're on a diet and you just want to chew something? >> that's why i think the fruit is great because it adds a little textural component, it's

a little fruit, a little sour. >> we got to get going. >> you're going to put it into this tray which is lined with parchment paper and butter so it won't stick. it goes into the oven at 350 for 20 minutes. peel the parchment paper right off. >> we don't have time to get this completely -- >> and cut it. and there's these great bars. >> perfect. >> have a taste of that. let's talk about a couple other ideas. donuts. high in fat. there is not much about a donut that's good for you. but i have made these with sweet potatoes so you get half the calories. these not only taste and look great, but put a little bit of melted butter, toss them into some cinnamon sugar.

>> i love cinnamon sugar. >> cinnamon sugar for me is a fabulous way to make a simple and delicious flavor. this is pentecost usually made with cream. there is 10% less fat in whole milk than cream. >> what keeps it together? >> it's all caramel and sugar. there is sugar here. break it up, it's super fun, and you can garnish your pent erkspa with it. we're going to work out with a partne

yoga is on thought of as a solitary practice, but it can be just as effective with a partner. >> grab a friend and get in position because yoga coach to the stars emma lawrence is here to teach you a few things that will stretch and strengthen your relationship and your body. what do you mean by that, ms. gwen? >> double yoga definitely gets you into better poses than it would be on your own. you want to get somebody that's kind of your size so they don't overpower you or hurt you. >> i can't do it with hoda. >> we've got partners for you. we're going to go to the child's pose. ie loelongates her. >> what is it doing for sara? >> she's getting a nice back and

chest stretch. >> here comes me. finish the show. good night. >> are you coming up? >> yeah. hold me. >> how are you? you okay? >> downward dog. >> brace yourself. double down dog. >> what is happening here? >> no! no! >> this intensifies your hamstring stretch and he's working his upper body strength here. >> if you're inflexible, does it matter? >> just bend your knees. this takes away from the hamstring stretch. >> ow. >> no, not ow. this is increasing upper body strength. >> it's getting out of it that's

a little -- >> one leg at a time. >> how long should you hold that pose? >> it depends on you. three, four, five breaths. it just depends. >> can you do it wrong? >> not really, and you should be communicating with the person you're doing it with. that's the wrong spot, move. >> you make me feel like i can do it. >> you're going to do it right now. you're going to go -- >> what are we doing? >> should we go here. >> what am i doing? tell me. >> bend your knees. >> bend my knees? >> flat backs, everybody. pull away. feel that nice elongation in the back. >> oh, yeah. >> then squeeze each other's wrists when you're ready to come up. >> gwen, you're the best.

>> love you. tomorrow, andy mcdowell is going to be in the house. >> hoda is going somewhere. chris jenner will be with us.